North Korea’s Table Tennis Team Falls Short at 2025 Asian Championships — Tension and Silence on Display

As the future host of the 2026 Asian Junior Championships and the 2028 Asian Championships, North Korea entered this year’s Asian Table Tennis Championships with high hopes — but left India’s Bhubaneswar with disappointment and a chilling atmosphere.

The North Korean delegation, featuring top star Kim Kum Yong among its seven players (three men and four women), failed to reach the semifinals in both divisions.

The men’s team, which had to qualify through preliminaries, narrowly lost 2–3 to Chinese Taipei and 2–3 to India before securing a 3–1 victory over Iran to finish seventh. The women’s team fared slightly better, losing 2–3 to Japan in the quarterfinals but later defeating India (3–1) and Thailand (3–0) to claim fifth place overall.

Just a year ago in Astana, North Korea’s players made history — Kim Kum Yong won the country’s first-ever women’s singles gold medal at an Asian Championship, while the mixed doubles pair Ri Jong Sik/Kim Kum Yong claimed silver and Sonu Song/Byon Song Gyong earned bronze. Considering the nation’s recent investment in table tennis ahead of hosting major regional events, this year’s underperformance was a major letdown.

In contrast, South Korea’s women’s team advanced to the semifinals for the first time in two years after defeating Hong Kong 3–1 in the quarters, despite losing 0–3 to powerhouse China.

However, what drew even more attention than the results was the icy silence between the North and South Korean delegations. According to South Korean media, the two sides avoided not only conversations but even eye contact — a stark contrast to the days when joint teams triumphed together, such as their emotional victory at the 1991 Chiba World Championships and the unexpected joint run to bronze at the 2018 Halmstad Worlds.

One Korean delegate remarked, “In better times, we’d share a drink after matches. This time, they acted like strangers — even avoided crossing paths.” Another added, “The atmosphere was absolutely frigid. Not a single word exchanged.”