North Korea at the
2018 Winter Paralympics
IPC codePRK
in Pyeongchang
Competitors2 in 1 sport
Flag bearer Kim Jong-hyon
Winter Paralympics appearances (overview)

North Korea was one of the competing teams in 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The Games were the first for North Korea for the Winter Paralympics. The country has two skiers, Kim Jong-hyon (김정현) and Ma Yu-chol (마유철), racing in para-Nordic skiing.

Joint participation with South Korea

The International Paralympic Committee said North Korea was going to participate in the Winter Games for the first time. North Korea will participate under a Korean Unification Flag like their delegation for the 2018 Winter Olympics did, in the Women's Ice Hockey tournament.[1] However, North Korea athletes marched in the Paralympics opening ceremony under its own flag, unlike the Olympics opening ceremony where they marched under the Korean unification flag along with South Korean athletes.[2]

North Korea had previously participated at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympics.[3]

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors participating at the Games per sport.[4]

Sport Men Women Total
Cross-country skiing 2 0 2
Total 2 0 2

Two athletes represented North Korea at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. They were Kim Jong-hyon and Ma Yu-chol and both competed in para-Nordic skiing.[3]

Team North Korea
Name Sport Gender Classification Year of Birth Events ref
Kim Jong-hyon para-Nordic skiing male LW12 2000 Men's 1.1km Sprint, Sitting
Men's 15km, Sitting 		[3][5]
Ma Yu-chol para-Nordic skiing male LW12 1991 Men's 1.1km Sprint, Sitting
Men's 15km, Sitting 		[3][5]

Cross-country skiing

Main article: Cross-country skiing at the 2018 Winter Paralympics

The two athletes Kim Jong-hyon and Ma Yu-chol first competed internationally at the 2018 Paralympic Nordic Skiing World Cup, in Oberried, Germany in January 2018.[3] Kim was 59th in the world in January 2018 in the sitting cross country skiing men's race with 516.18 points.[5] Ma was 58th in the world in January 2018 in the sitting cross country skiing men's race with 505.88 points.[5]

References

  1. ^ "North Korea invited to participate in first-ever Winter Paralympic Games at Pyeongchang 2018". 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  2. ^ "North, South Korea to march separately in Paralympics opening ceremony". CBC Sports. March 8, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Winter Paralympics: IPC invites two North Korean skiers to take part". BBC Sport. 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  4. ^ "NPC Entries - Democratic People's Republic of Korea". Pyeongchang 2018 Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 10 March 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d "Nordic skiing rankings". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
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