On Aug. 7, two athletes were spotted taking a selfie together in a corner of the Rio Olympic Arena. One image of the pair, posing for a snapshot, has now created a touching moment all around the world.

The two Olympians turned out to be Lee Eun-ju, 17, of South Korea and Hong Un-jong, 27, of North Korea, both gymnasts, who then carried on to compete in the women’s gymnastics qualification rounds. Their picture showed that the Olympic Games can still unite a divided people, no matter what geopolitical situation the two Koreas may face. Even International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach described the photo as “a great gesture.”

The reactions from news outlets from around the world that flew in were all supportive. The BBC published an article on Aug. 9 titled, “North and South Korean gymnasts pose for Olympic selfie.” It said, “North and South Korean gymnasts at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games have shown the world a brief moment of unity, in the form of a selfie. Both athletes failed to claim the championship in their round, but certainly took home the gold for diplomacy.” Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, tweeted that, “This is why we do the Olympics,” and the BBC hailed it as the “most iconic photo of the games.”



An article titled “Gymnast selfie briefly unites North and South Korea” appeared on CNN on Aug. 8. It said, “A couple of gymnasts at Rio 2016 have taken to heart one of the founding principles of Olympism -- 'placing sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind’ -- in a very modern way... Geopolitics were put to one side for one moment in Brazil as the two Olympians came together to capture a shared moment of joy while representing their two nations during Sunday's gymnastics training at the Rio Olympic Arena.”

The Italian Corriere della Sera daily, too, reported on the selfie, saying, “How we feel from the two athletes’ eyes is wholly different to the way we do from the relations between the two divided Koreas.” In the Aug. 8 article “North and South Korean athletes -- onetime foes with each other -- take selfie with smiles,” the daily said, “Any act of amity among Olympic athletes is always meaningful in some way, but the one that took place between North and South Korean athletes could be described as ‘revolutionary.’”

By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: BBC, CNN
jiae5853@korea.kr