Politics
Nagoya Asian Games: Organizers Push Back as a Report Claims Two North Korean Athletes Seek Asylum
After days of operational trouble at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, the organizing committee posted a rebuttal on Sept. 22 saying the delayed boarding of the athletes' village cruise ship stemmed from paperwork issues on the delegations' side, not from the committee failing to send lodging data, and that meal problems fell to the relevant sport federation. Separately, a South Korean outlet reported that two North Korean athletes at the Games want to defect to Japan; that claim has not been confirmed by reliable reporting, Japanese authorities, or the organizing committee. Online reactions ran from calling the rebuttal buck-passing to strong opposition to accepting any asylum.