Seoul rebuffs blame game over cheering squad

North Korean cheerleaders outside Incheon’s Munhak Stadium wave flags featuring images of the Korean Peninsula, during the Asian Athletics Championships in this photo taken in September 2005. / Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

The government expressed strong regret Friday regarding North Korea’s claim that South Korea played a role in its decision not to send its cheering squad to the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon.

The Ministry of Unification denied Pyongyang’s claim on Thursday that Seoul did not want the North Korean cheerleaders to participate in the continent’s biggest sporting event, which will kick off in September. The South reiterated its stance in welcoming the cheer squad and wanted no part in the blame game.

“It’s very regrettable that North Korea is making a distorted claim and holding us responsible for its unilateral plan not to send its cheering contingent,” ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol said during a media briefing.

“The government welcomes North Korean athletes as well as its cheerleaders to take part in the Incheon Asian Games.

“We’re willing to provide them the necessary support during their stay in South Korea in accordance with international practice. We remain unfazed in pursuing inter-Korean cooperation to improve ties between the two nations,” Lim said.

The two Koreas have been engaged in talks on ways to offer support for some 350 female cheerleaders in their 20s that Pyongyang proposed to dispatch. The communist regime planned to send them along with a 273-member delegation of athletes, coaches, referees and other officials for the quadrennial event to be held from Sept. 19 - Oct. 4.

Some 13,000 athletes and sports officials from 45 Asian countries will participate in the 17th Asian Games, with 439 events in 36 sports, according to organizing committee.

Son Kwang-ho, vice chairman of Pyongyang’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) reversed his country’s plan on Thursday to send the cheering squad.

In an interview with the Korean Central Television, Pyongyang’s state-controlled TV broadcaster, Son said the working-level discussions between the two Koreas failed. He added the two sides differed over key issues such as transportation, expenses and the size of the cheerleading contingent.

In response, Lim said the negotiations broke down as the North Korean delegates were not “sincere” in terms of their attitude during the discussions.

North Korea sent 288 female cheerleaders to the Busan Asian Games in 2002; 303 to the Daegu Universiade in 2003; and 124 to the Incheon Asian Athletics Championships in 2005.