‘Dear Colleague’: North Korea asks South for canoe boats ahead of Asian Games

North Korea’s Olympic committee has reached out to South Korea for help securing two racing boats for the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026, according to media reports.

Kim Eun-suk, who serves as both the secretary general of the Asian Canoe Confederation (ACC) and secretary general of the Korea Canoe Federation in Seoul, received an email from a sender who identified themselves as a representative of North Korea’s Olympic committee to ask about borrowing two boats for the canoe sprint competition, according to a Yonhap report on Saturday.

The email was written in English and sent from a Google account. Rather than naming a specific recipient, it opened simply with “Dear Colleague.”

Canoe athletes often rent boats through local competition organizers because transporting the bulky equipment can be difficult. North Korea, however, has seemingly sought practical assistance first from a South Korean individual rather than going directly through the Asian Games organizing committee.

The two Koreas have shared a boat on the international stage before.

At the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, North and South Korea fielded a unified team in the women’s 500-meter dragon boat race and won gold. The medal was the first gold medal won by a unified Korean team at an international multi-sport competition.

Kim, then with the Korea Canoe Federation, had direct contact with the North Korean canoe team during the 2018 Games.

South Korean law, however, restricts unauthorized contact and communication with North Koreans. Kim therefore did not reply directly to the email. Instead, in his capacity as a senior official of the ACC, he passed North Korea’s request to the Asian Games organizing committee.

The organizers accepted the request and agreed to provide two boats made by Polish manufacturer Plastex for the sprint competition.

Canoe competition is broadly divided into sprint, in which athletes race for speed on calm water, and slalom, in which competitors navigate a course through rapids.

Three North Korean women — Cha Un-yong, Jong Ye-song, and Om Jin-gyong, — have registered for the canoe sprint events, according to the Asian Games’ official information website. Cha and Jong were members of the unified Korean team at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games and won gold alongside South Korean athletes.

The 2026 Games will also mark North Korea’s first appearance at a Summer Asian Games held in Japan. North Korea did not send athletes to the 1958 Tokyo or 1994 Hiroshima Games.

BY CHO MUN-GYU [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]