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The Italian flag, right, flies next to Greece, center, and China during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Olympics say goodbye to Asia after a star-crossed run

By Stephen Wade Feb. 23, 2022 12:08 AM EST

FILE- Volunteers make kimchi, a traditional pungent vegetable dish, to donate to needy neighbors, at a temple in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021. Alongside politics, frictions between China and South Korea have long been driven by cultural issues, even including the origin of kimchi, a Korean national dish of fermented cabbage that China claims as its own invention. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
Behind China-South Korea skating row, a deeper cultural rift

By Kim Tong-Hyung Feb. 11, 2022 09:42 PM EST

South Korea's Kim Kyeong-ae throws a rock during a women's curling match against Britain at the Beijing Winter Olympics Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Having survived abuse, 'Garlic Girls' curlers now seek joy

By Kristen Gelineau Feb. 11, 2022 06:05 AM EST

A performer, second from right, clad in a traditional Korean dress waves during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. Major South Korean presidential candidates accused China of laying claim to their culture after the performer wore white and light purple hanbok dress during the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics. (Lim Hwa-young/Yonhap via AP)
S. Korea politicians criticize China over traditional dress

By Kim Tong-Hyung Feb. 05, 2022 07:49 AM EST

FILE - South Korean President Moon Jae-in, front left, shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's younger sister Kim Yo Jong during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea on Feb. 9, 2018. North Korea basked in the global limelight during the last Winter Games in South Korea, with hundreds of athletes, cheerleaders and officials pushing hard to woo their South Korean and U.S. rivals in a now-stalled bid for diplomacy. Four years later, as the 2022 Winter Olympics come to its main ally and neighbor China, North Korea isn't sending any athletes and officials because of coronavirus fears. (Kim Ju-sung/Yonhap via AP, File)
'Someone else's festival': No North Korea at ally's Olympics

By Hyung-Jin Kim And Kim Tong-Hyung Feb. 04, 2022 11:29 PM EST

FILE - Citizens wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk in Pyongyang, North Korea on Aug. 25, 2021. North Korea said Friday, Jan. 7, 2022 it would skip next month’s Beijing Olympics because of the COVID-19 pandemic and "hostile forces' moves," a largely redundant statement since the country has already been banned from the Games by the IOC. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File)
Banned from the Olympics by IOC, NKorea puts blame elsewhere

By Hyung-Jin Kim Jan. 06, 2022 11:48 PM EST

France's Nikola Karabatic makes a shot during the men's gold medal handball match between France and Denmark at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Olympic Latest: France earns gold for 1st volleyball medal

Aug. 06, 2021 07:41 PM EDT

Daiki Hashimoto, of Japan, performs on the horizontal bar during the artistic gymnastics men's apparatus final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Olympics Latest: Women's semifinals set in beach volleyball

Aug. 02, 2021 08:59 PM EDT

Eliad Mourad, of France talks to Britain's Frazer Clarke after being disqualified during a men's super heavyweight over 91-kg boxing match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
French boxer sits on ring apron in protest after DQ loss

By Greg Beacham Aug. 01, 2021 01:28 AM EDT

Yulimar Rojas, of Venezuela, competes in the final of the women's triple jump at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Olympics Latest: Belarus runner says team forcing departure

Jul. 31, 2021 09:18 PM EDT

Elaine Thompson-Herah, of Jamaica, wins the gold during the finals of the women's 100-meter at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 31, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Thompson-Herah breaks Flo Jo's Olympic record in women's 100

By Eddie Pells Jul. 30, 2021 09:55 PM EDT

New Zealand's Tyla Nathan-Wong raises her fists as her team celebrates defeating France in the women's rugby gold medal match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 31, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Olympic Latest: Bencic wins tennis gold for Switzerland

Jul. 30, 2021 09:08 PM EDT

China's Chen Meng, top, competes against countrywoman Sun Yingsha during the gold medal match of the table tennis women's singles at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Chen beats Chinese teammate for gold in women's table tennis

Jul. 29, 2021 10:02 AM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2018, file photo, North Korean cheerleaders sing during the men's 500 meters short track speedskating semifinal in the Gangneung Ice Arena at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea. At the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, North Korea had no real medal contenders, but it was among the most watched nations at the Games, with a huge delegation highlighted by a 229-member strong, all-female cheering squad. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Even in absence, North Korea's presence felt at Tokyo Games

By Foster Klug Jul. 28, 2021 04:27 AM EDT

From left first placed South Korea's An San, Jang Minhee, and Kang Chaeyoung celebrate on the podium during the medal ceremony of the women's team competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
South Korea's female archers wrap up 9th straight team gold

By Pat Graham Jul. 25, 2021 06:35 AM EDT

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2020, file photo, a visitor carrying a rising sun flag enters Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo as Japan marked the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. Japan’s “rising sun” flag is raising anger at the Olympics, with some of the host nation’s neighbors calling for it to be banned during the Tokyo Games, which start Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
EXPLAINER: Why Japan 'rising sun' flag provokes Olympic ire

By Hyung-Jin Kim And Mari Yamaguchi Jul. 22, 2021 08:42 PM EDT

A protester stands to oppose South Korean President Moon Jae-in's possible visit to Japan in front of a building which houses Japanese embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July 19, 2021. Moon has decided not to visit Japan for the Tokyo Summer Olympics, citing a failure to set up a summit with Japan's prime minister that would produce meaningful results in improving relations. The signs on a banner at left read "Expel Hirohisa Soma, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, from South Korea." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
With no summit, South Korean president to skip Olympics

By Kim Tong-Hyung Jul. 19, 2021 05:41 AM EDT

WBA woman super featherweight champion Choi Hyunmi smiles during an interview in Seoul, South Korea, on June 21, 2021. South Korea’s only boxing world champion is Choi, a North Korean defector who fled her authoritarian homeland as a 13-year-old girl with her family in 2003. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Defector no more: Choi a proud South Korean world champion

By Hyung-Jin Kim Jul. 19, 2021 02:33 AM EDT

Japan's Kaori Yamaguchi, an executive member of the Japanese Olympic Committee, speaks during an interview in Tokyo, on May 19, 2021. Yamaguchi, one of Japan's best-known Olympians and an executive member of the Japanese Olympic Committee says Tokyo has been “cornered” into holding the games in seven weeks in the middle of a pandemic. In an outspoken editorial published Friday, June 4, by Japan's Kyodo news agency, Yamaguchi said the International Olympic Committee, the Japanese government, and local organizers, are ignoring widespread opposition — 50-80% depending on the poll — to the Olympics from the Japanese public. (Kyodo News via AP)
Olympian Yamaguchi says Japan 'cornered' into holding games

By Stephen Wade Jun. 04, 2021 02:46 AM EDT

South Korean Olympic judo team player An Ba-ul receives the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at the National Medical Center Thursday, April 29, 2021, in Seoul, South Korea. South Korea has begun administering fast-track COVID-19 vaccines to athletes, coaches and others expected to attend the Tokyo Olympics this summer.(Chung Sung-Jun/Pool Photo via AP)
South Korea inoculates Olympic athletes ahead of Tokyo Games

By Hyung-Jin Kim Apr. 29, 2021 05:36 AM EDT