Olympic selfie of Korean athletes goes viral

The selfie featuring athletes from North and South Korea at the Paris Olympics has gone viral. South Korean table tennis player Lim Jonghoon took the picture with his smartphone with North Korean and Chinese rivals after the mixed doubles victory ceremony on Tuesday. Lim and Shin Yubin had won bronze, North Korea’s Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong silver and Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha gold for China. They all smiled into the camera, and the incident went especially viral in the South Korean media and social media. The Hankyoreh daily spoke of a "sensational scene” and a broadcaster was quoted as saying that "this is the true spirit of the Olympics.” A user on popular online platform Naver said that "it is nice to see North and South Korean athletes smiling together.” But another user also voiced concern, saying: "I hope that no North Korean athlete is harmed through this photo and this report.” North Korea is competing at the Olympics for the first time since 2016 as it did not send any athletes to the Tokyo 2020 Games.(DPA)