North and South Korean players take selfies with ‘Samsung phones’

South Korea's table tennis team, Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon, pose for a commemorative photo with China's Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, who won gold medals, and North Korea's Ri Jong-sik and Kim Kum-yong, who won silver medals, at the table tennis mixed doubles awards ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics held at South Paris Arena 4 in Paris, France on the 30th. 

The Taegeukgi and North Korean flags flew side by side at the table tennis stadium at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The North and South Korean players also took a 'selfie' together with Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Z Flip6. On the

30th (local time), the table tennis mixed doubles third-place match and final were both held at Arena 4 in South Paris, France.

In the third-place match, the Korean pair of Shin Yu-bin (20, Korean Air) and Lim Jong-hoon (27, Korea Exchange) defeated the Hong Kong pair of Du Hoi Kem and Wong Chun-ting to win the bronze medal.

In the final, North Korea's Ri Jong-sik and Kim Kum-yong lost to China's Wang Chujin and Sun Yingsha and won the silver medal.

The awards ceremony began, and bronze medalists Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon went up to the podium first. Ri Jeong-sik and Kim Geum-yong applauded. After the silver medalists were called, the North Korean athletes headed to the podium with calm expressions. At this time, Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon also applauded. The North and South Korean athletes shook hands and congratulated each other.

Finally, the Chinese athletes who won gold medals went up to the podium, and the Chinese national anthem played. After the Chinese five-star red flag, the North Korean flag and the Taegeukgi were raised in turn.

Those who wore medals around their necks all took 'selfies' with their phones. In this Olympics, there is a 'victory selfie' event where the winners of each event take a commemorative photo after the awards ceremony. The 'Galaxy Z Flip6 Olympic Edition' from Samsung Electronics, an official partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will be with them at this glorious moment. At the table tennis mixed doubles awards ceremony, an Olympic volunteer also handed out the Galaxy Z Flip6 Olympic Edition to the winners. Lim Jong-hoon, who was nearby, stepped forward and grabbed the smartphone. Lim moved around to take pictures with the players from various angles. It was a rare scene of South and North Korean athletes taking pictures with domestically produced smartphones. When asked if he had any conversation with the North Korean athletes, Lim Jong-hoon said, "When we shook hands, we just congratulated each other on winning medals, and there was no separate conversation."

The North Korean athletes, who had refused interviews throughout the competition, spoke for the first time at the medalists’ official press conference. When asked if he felt any sense of competition with the South Korean athletes, Kim Geum-yong said, “I didn’t feel that at all.” When

asked about his feelings about the competition, he said, “(North Korea) is participating in the Olympics for the first time in eight years, so I’m glad to be here. I’m disappointed with the silver medal, but I learned a lot from playing against the world’s No. 1 China. I’ll train harder to win the gold medal in the future.”

When asked, “Have you talked to your family after the competition?” Kim Geum-yong said, “No.” When asked, “Have you trained abroad?” Ri Jeong-sik gave a short answer, “No. I did it in my home country.” When the moderator called North Korea “North Korea” during the press conference, a member of the North Korean national team protested. The organizing committee accepted this and said they would change it. Afterwards, the moderator called North Korea “DPR Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea).”  파워볼사이트