Olympic medalists from North Korea, South Korea and China pose for a group photo after the table tennis mixed doubles medal ceremony.
The Chinese combination Sun Yingsha/Wang Chuqin defeated the North Korean combination Lee Jong-sik/Kim Jinlong in the final to win the gold medal, and the South Korean combination Lin Zhengxun/Shin Youbin defeated the Hong Kong combination of China and won the bronze medal.
South Korea’s Im Jong-hoon took a group photo of all the medal winners, in which they were all smiling. This photo was taken with a Samsung phone made in South Korea.
“When they were introduced as silver medalists, I congratulated them,” Lin said after the photo, which was quoted by South Korean media.
South Korea and North Korea, which both claim to be the sole legitimate government of the entire Korean peninsula (which has been divided since September 1945), have tense military relations and a heavily fortified border.
Prior to this Olympics, all personal items, including mobile phones, were banned from medal ceremonies and photos were only allowed to be taken by state media.
All six mixed doubles medalists pose for photos (Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
However, an agreement between Samsung and the International Olympic Committee allows their products to be used during ceremonies. “Thanks to the foldable nature of Galaxy Z Flip6, athletes can take creative selfies from all angles,” Samsung said in a press release this week.
The Athlete 365 app, which comes pre-installed on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 and was made available to participating athletes ahead of its official launch earlier this month, allows participants to add their “victory selfies.”
The shared photo comes just days after 143 South Korean athletes were incorrectly introduced as North Koreans at the Olympic opening ceremony.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was forced to issue a “deep apology” for the incident, which the South Korean delegation declared “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”, North Korea’s official name, as its ship passed the peninsula. South Korea’s official name is the Republic of Korea.
North Korea sent 16 athletes for the first time since 2016 (it did not send a representative to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to the Covid-19 pandemic) and was later duly introduced in the program in French and English.
(Top photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
