(ATR) North Korean journalists must file their stories on the 2014 Asian Games via fax machine.
North Korea’s strict National Security Law means that North Korean websites are banned outside the country making journalists unable to file stories online.
According to a report in the Korea Times, North Korean journalists tried to access the Korean Central News Agency and failed.
To circumvent the ban, North Korean journalists are using fax machines to send their stories back to Pyeongyang.
"We agreed on the fax machine as the system for the North Korean reporters to deliver their articles," an anonymous government official told The Korea Times.
"As far as I know, the North delegation hasn't officially requested a change."
North Korea is sending a 273-person delegation to the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. The games are seen as a way to increase bilateral communications between the two countries.
Asiad Suffering from Slow Ticket Sales
Ticket sales for the Asian Games are seeing a large disparity between popular and obscure events.
The Incheon 2014 Organizing Committee said Monday that ticket sales had reached 18 percent for all 36 sports in a report from Reuters.
"We are putting all our efforts into selling tickets with lower prices, promotional events and package deals. It is hard to attract the crowds," Lee Jun-Sung, an official from the organizing committee told Reuters.
Sports featuring South Korean stars are selling out, but a lack of sporting culture for less-popular events and poor foreign sales were cited as the reasons for the sluggish sales.
Chinese sales lagged behind what the organizing committee expected, mostly due to Chinese visitors needing a visa to enter South Korea.
"South Korea is not like other developed countries which have advanced sports culture or history of games. People may think it is a waste of time to see unpopular events."
South Korea has finished second in the medal table in the last four Asian Games and is targeting 90 medals for Incheon.
Financial Burdens Worry Organizing Committee
Worries of the financial burden Incheon is facing could sully the 2014 Asian Games legacy.
Incheon has the highest rate of debt in South Korea’s major cities, and in 2012 had to ask the South Korean government to pay for 30 percent of the games to avoid losing them.
Politicians and games organizers say that the tourism increase will help improve Incheon’s image long term, creating a lasting legacy for the port city.
"The Asian Games will be a good opportunity to uplift a country that was saddened by the Sewol ferry incident," Korean Olympic Committee president Kim Jung-haeng said to the AP.
"Hosting a large international event such as the Asian Games will help the country prepare for the Pyeongchang Olympics."
After the Games, the city hopes to convert some of the sport facilities to office buildings, shopping malls, and a movie theater.
The 2014 Asian Games will run from September 19 to October 4 and will feature close to 10,000 athletes in 36 sports.
Written by Aaron Bauer
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
