Dr Tereza Novotna commented on the revocation of work permit for Pak Kwang Ryong, a North Korean footballer playing for an Austrian team due to the UN sanctions against the DPRK

On 20 April 2020, NK News reported that the Austrian government has begun the process of revoking the work permit and issuing a deportation order against North Korean football player Pak Kwang Ryong, potentially marking the end of the career of one of the DPRK’s few internationally-performing athletes as a follow-up on implementation of UN Resolution 2397, which requires member states to repatriate all DPRK citizens earning currency in their territory by the end of 2019.

“I suppose it shows how this sanction is absurd, and even counterproductive,” Tereza Novotna told NK News. “I think that there should be cultural, sports and educational exemptions,” she added, pointing to her own country, the Czech Republic, and the positive impact that its engagement with the west had during the Cold War.

“When I think back about our (Czechoslovak) experience, going to work to ‘the West’ was one of the things that many still think about fondly,” she said. “There are still shows where Czech actors, musicians, etc talk about their ‘overseas performances,’ how they smuggled in things, saw things they had no idea of… it has become a stuff of legend. The Europeans should think a little more long-term, and think back about their own experience, rather than think short-term and assume that they will please the Trump administration this way.”

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