North Korea Canoe Team Contacts Korean ACF Chief... Requests Boat Rental for Asian Games

Unusual Practical Request Builds on Past Unified Korean Team Ties

The North Korean Olympic Committee has reportedly requested a South Korean national to lend competition boats ahead of the canoe events at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Yonhap News Agency

On September 12, an individual identifying themselves as a representative of the North Korean Olympic Committee recently sent an email to Kim Eunseok, Secretary General of the Korea Canoe Federation, who is currently serving as Secretary General of the Asian Canoe Federation (ACF), inquiring about borrowing two boats to be used in the canoe sprint events at the upcoming Asian Games.

The email, written in English and sent through a Google account, began with the greeting "Dear Colleague" without specifying a recipient. Typically, Asian Games canoe athletes find it difficult to transport large boats themselves, so they rent them through the local organizing committee. However, rather than using the committee's official channel, North Korea reached out directly to the South Korean official by email to request practical assistance.

As an ACF member nation, North Korea has been paying its federation dues through China and recognizes that Secretary General Kim is South Korean. Nonetheless, this outreach is seen as a reflection of the past connections forged between North and South Korean canoeists on the international stage. At the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, the two Koreas formed a unified team in the women's dragon boat 500m event, winning the first-ever gold medal as a joint team in the history of major international competitions. Kim, as Secretary General, interacted directly with the North Korean canoe team at that time.

North Korea's attempt to borrow boats is also influenced by the fact that it is sending a delegation to an Asian Games held in Japan for the first time. Although this will be the third Summer Asian Games held in Japan—after the 1958 Tokyo and 1994 Hiroshima Games—North Korea was ineligible for the Tokyo event and did not participate in the Hiroshima Games. As a result, lacking established communication channels with the local organizing committee, North Korea appears to be leveraging past connections in order to arrange for the boat rentals.

The boats North Korea has requested to borrow are two Plastex canoe sprint models manufactured in Poland. According to the official Asian Games information site, North Korea currently has three female athletes registered for the canoe sprint events.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.