Kim Jong-un to send ‘more than 40’ secret agents to South Korea’s Winter Olympics – including some disguised as cheerleaders
THE North's sports spies will pose as reporters, medics, musicians and cheer squad members, said Seo Jae Pyong, head of the Association of North Korean Defector
NORTH Korea's 400-strong Olympic delegation will be packed with state spies and secret agents on a mission to prevent athletes from defecting, it's been revealed.
Up to one in 10 heading over the border to South Korea will be on a mission to keep those representing Kim Jong-un's communist enclave from going rogue.
Lee Ji Young, a defector and former national athlete for North Korea, told Daily NK that "the group that they will send to the games will definitely include state security agents."
"It has always been that way," she said, "and they will do it this time as well. The number of security agents will increase to accommodate the number of other attendees."
The North's agents will pose as reporters, medics, musicians and cheerleaders, said Seo Jae Pyong, head of the Association of North Korean Defectors.
"The ratio will be at least one agent per ten participants," he said.
The 22 athletes will be accompanies by 24 coaches, 21 media representatives and dozens of medical staff.
Delegates had agreed already that the North would send a 140-strong orchestra and over 200 cheerleaders - the so-called "army of beauties" to support its Olympic delegation.
The primary mission of the security agents will be to watch the words and actions of the participants to discourage them from saying anything disparaging about the North Korean system.
The agents will also try to prevent any of them from being influenced by "foreign concepts" that could damage their "ideological integrity".
All participants will receive strict guidelines for behaviour during the visit, and security agents will be there to step in and warn or punish those who step out of line.
The North Korean participants will also receive extensive ideological training before their trip to the Olympics.
They will be trained on how to react in situations where foreign press members suddenly try to speak with them, and in general will be forbidden from communicating with any South Koreans or foreigners.
Participants will also be split up into small groups of two or three individuals that will be required to watch each other's movements and snitch on each other later.
The goal is to make it extremely difficult for any North Koreans to defect by escaping their quarters or even darting away from their group in public.
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Lee Ji Young revealed: "The ideological training is mandatory before going abroad for competitions. During this stage, they weed out any individuals with ideological deficiencies or who they suspect may cause a problem abroad."
Of the North Korean athletes heading over the border, 15 will be women and seven will be men, the IOC said.
The athletes will compete in ice hockey, ice skating and skiing across five disciplines -ice hockey, figure skating, short track speedskating, cross-country skiing and alpine skiing