Skater appears in Pyongyang

Figure skater Tomáš Verner raised turmoil in diplomatic circles after taking part in a skating exhibition that was part of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il's 70th birthday in Pyongyang Feb. 16.

Some three weeks after winning the bronze medal in the European Championship in Bern, Switzerland, Verner traveled to Pyongyang to show his skills in an exhibition organized by communist apparatchiks. The celebrations, in which athletes including Verner were apparently honored with hefty appearance fees, took place as North Korea teetered on the verge of collapse. North Korea is currently asking for food aid, and its dictatorship has long been a thorn in the side of much of the international community.

Verner's participation in the celebrations raised the eyebrows of Czech diplomats.

"It's as if some star singer from the West would've arrived in communist Czechoslovakia in the past in order to sing to [communist President Gustáv] Husák for his birthday," Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Vít Kolář said.

Verner said he performed in North Korea as an athlete, not a politician. His manager, Lukáš Přibyl, said Verner is quite popular among sports fans in North Korea.

"I did not think about politics when accepting the invitation. I had a chance to perform my entire program in Pyongyang in front of a sold-out crowd of enthusiastic people," he said. "I did not go there to skate for Kim. I tried to entertain people who need it. Even the few minutes when they can forget about their everyday worries are worth it."

However, Czech Ambassador to North Korea Dušan Štrauch said spectators were communist party officials, not common fans. The exhibition was not televised.

According to North Korean news agency KCNA, other star figure skaters such as Russian Yevgeny Plyushchenko and European champions Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France also performed in the exhibition.

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Jiří Schneider said authorities had no ability to intervene.

"It's up to every individual to do what he wants as long as he doesn't violate the law," Schneider said. "However, we're concerned that Czech citizens could be abused for hidden political purposes."

Kolář said the skating exhibition in North Korea had political dimensions.

"I hope [the athletes traveling to Pyongyang] will realize that athletes and artists in North Korea are prevented from traveling, practicing sports and creating art freely precisely because of Kim Jong-Il," Kolář said.

In contrast to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, local sports authorities expressed more tolerance to Verner's participation.

"I can't see anything bad in it. Similarly, we could ask why the Americans went to play table tennis in China," said Czech Olympic Committee Chairman Milan Jirásek, referring to a visit of a U.S. table-tennis team to China 40 years ago that helped defrost the relationship between communist China and the United States.

Czech Figure Skating Union General Secretary Karel Oubrecht admitted Verner's appearance in North Korea had angered many people.

"We've received phone calls from various people and unions who've expressed their anger, and they say that we should've prevented Verner from traveling to that exhibition," Oubrecht said. "[However,] young skaters could learn how a totalitarian communist country looks [from a visit to North Korea]. They haven't experienced a communist regime here, but after such an experience out there, they'll never vote for the Communists."

František Bouc can be reached at
fbouc@praguepost.com