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| North Korean taekwondo athletes stage demonstration performances celebrating the opening of the ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships held in Astana, Kazakhstan, Saturday. Yonhap |
North Korean taekwondo athletes have staged demonstration performances in Kazakhstan, after the North's team made a rare border crossing into China from North Korea last week to attend a taekwondo event following a years-long COVID-19 border closure.
The North's demonstration team conducted performances Saturday (Kazakhstan time) for about an hour at the opening ceremony of the ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships held in Astana, Kazakhstan. The ITF stands for the North Korean-led International Taekwondo Federation.
"We've gathered here for peace and friendship. There are no failures, we are all champions," ITF chief Ri Yong-son said.
The North's athletes arrived in Beijing on Thursday, after a pair of buses carrying them crossed from the North Korean border city of Sinuiju into China on Wednesday. They flew from Beijing to Kazakhstan to participate in the taekwondo championships, which kicked off Saturday and will run through Aug. 26. (Yonhap)
