North Korean Olympic athletes have not received Samsung smartphones, unlike athletes from other countries, according to information provided to AFP by the International Olympic Committee on Thursday, just hours after Seoul suggested that providing the phones to North Korea could violate UN sanctions against the nuclear-armed state.
South Korean tech giant Samsung, an official Olympic partner, earlier announced that it will provide the Olympic Edition of its high-end Galaxy Z Flip6 smartphone to “about 17,000” athletes participating in this year’s Paris Olympics.
The company and the International Olympic Committee promoted the “Victory Selfies” movement in Paris, where medalists on the podium take group selfies using the Galaxy Z Flip6. North Korea’s silver medalists shared a group selfie on the podium last week with South Korea’s bronze medalists — a rare encounter between the two Koreas that went viral.
North and South Korean athletes take a selfie together at the table tennis final at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
However, the South Korean government said on Thursday that providing North Korean Olympic athletes with Samsung phones could violate U.N. sanctions related to Pyongyang’s weapons program. However, the International Olympic Committee said in a statement late Thursday that North Korean athletes “did not receive Samsung phones.” The IOC did not provide further details.
The Olympic Edition Galaxy Z Flip6 was given to every Samsung athlete
South Korea's foreign ministry said earlier that the UN Security Council resolution prohibits “the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to North Korea of all types of industrial machinery.” Smartphones are prohibited items under this decision. The ministry said.
During the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, North Korea refused to accept Samsung smartphones provided by Olympic organizers.