IOC's provision of Samsung phones to North Korean athletes potentially violated UN sanctions, says Seoul

Diplomacy

IOC's provision of Samsung phones to North Korean athletes potentially violated UN sanctions, says Seoul

Published: 08 Aug. 2024, 17:13 Updated: 09 Aug. 2024, 13:55

SEO JI-EUN
seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr

Olympic table tennis players from South and North Korea, along with Chinese players, pose together to take a selfie on the podium using the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 during the Paris 2024 Olympics on July 30. [YONHAP]

Providing North Korean athletes with Samsung Galaxy smartphones during the Paris 2024 Olympics could violate international sanctions on Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, the South Korean government said Thursday.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) provided all athletes participating in the Paris Olympics with specially designed Galaxy Z Flip 6 smartphones from Samsung Electronics, Korea's largest producer of electronic devices and an official Olympic sponsor.

Citing the IOC, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported Wednesday that the National Olympic Committee of North Korea collected the smartphones from the athletes' village in Paris.

"UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2397 prohibits the supply, sale, or transfer of any electronic devices to North Korea, so sanctions were possibly violated," an official from South Korea's Unification Ministry told reporters Thursday on condition of anonymity.

Yet, the official added, "Ultimately, it is up to the IOC to address the issue."

In cases of sanctions violations, the official noted that "both parties could be at fault," suggesting that the IOC, which provided the Galaxy phones, and North Korea, which received them, could be scrutinized. Although Samsung manufactured the smartphones, the IOC made the decision to distribute them to Olympic participants.

Electronic devices like smartphones are classified as "dual-use" items, meaning they can be repurposed for military use. As such, their supply, sale, or transfer to North Korea is prohibited under UNSC Resolution 2397.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry echoed these concerns, clarifying that while North Korean athletes receiving smartphones in Paris itself does not violate resolutions, bringing them back to North Korea would.

"It is crucial that the prohibited items are not brought into North Korea to avoid violating the resolution," ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said during a regular press briefing Thursday.

The ministry noted that it is "coordinating relevant measures" with France — both the host country for the Summer Olympics and a permanent member of the UN Security Council — to address the issue.

During the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018, the PyeongChang organizing committee, concerned about violating sanctions, offered Samsung smartphones to North Korean athletes on the condition that they "return them before leaving." North Korea refused to accept the phones under those conditions. Despite no changes to the sanctions regulations since then, it is speculated that Samsung smartphones were provided to the North Korean delegation without any conditions for the Paris Olympics.

It remains unconfirmed whether the Samsung smartphones collected by the North Korean delegation were actually distributed to the athletes, as no sightings of North Korean athletes carrying Samsung smartphones have been reported.

"North Korea's National Olympic Committee, like other national Olympic committees, is not obligated to return the phones before leaving," the IOC told RFA. However, the IOC has not yet responded to inquiries about whether providing smartphones to the North Korean delegation violates sanctions.

The lack of a UN expert panel to monitor the enforcement of sanctions against North Korea complicates the situation further. The nuclear representatives of South Korea, the United States and Japan said Wednesday they are "working to establish a new mechanism for overseeing the implementation of UN sanctions against North Korea, possibly by the end of the year," which would replace the UN expert group whose mandate expired earlier this year, after telephone talks on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, on July 30, Olympic table tennis players from South and North Korea posed together for a "victory selfie" on the podium after the mixed doubles table tennis finals using the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. This moment garnered global attention as a rare instance showing cross-border unity between the two hostile neighbors, with international media dubbing it "sports diplomacy."

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong also expressed satisfaction with the marketing success of its new Galaxy Z during the Paris Olympics, calling the victory selfie "rewarding."

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]