Connect with us

Culture

North and South Korea table tennis Olympic medalists pose for shared selfie

Published

on

North and South Korea table tennis Olympic medalists pose for shared selfie

Olympic medalists from North Korea, South Korea and China posed for a selfie following the table tennis mixed doubles medal’s ceremony.

China’s Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin beat North Korea’s Ri Jong-sik and Kim Kum-yong in the final to win gold, as South Korea won bronze with pair Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin defeating Hong Kong.

South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon took the photo of all the medalists together in which they were all smiling broadly. The picture was taken with a South Korean-made Samsung phone.

“I congratulated them when they were introduced as silver medalists,” Lim said after the photo, in quotes carried by Korean media.

South Korea and North Korea both claim to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea — which has been partitioned since September 1945 — with military tensions between the two states and a heavily fortified border.

Advertisement

Prior to this Olympics, all individual items including mobile phones were banned from medal ceremonies, with photos only being allowed to be taken by official media.


All six mixed double medal winners posed for the selfie (Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

However, an agreement between Samsung and the IOC allows their products to be used in ceremonies. “Athletes can take creative selfies with the Galaxy Z Flip6 in various angles due to its foldable nature,” Samsung said in a press release this week.

The Athlete 365 app is preloaded on Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip6, which was given to competing athletes prior to its official launch earlier this month, into which the “victory selfies” of competitors can be added.

The shared photo comes just days after 143 South Korean athletes were incorrectly introduced as North Korean during the Olympics opening ceremony.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was forced to issue a “deep apology” for the incident which saw the South Korean delegation announced as the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” the full official name of North Korea, as their boat passed down the Seine. The formal name of South Korea is the Republic of Korea.

Advertisement

North Korea, which has 16 athletes as part of its first delegation since 2016 (it was not represented at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic), was properly introduced later in the program in French and English.

(Top photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Culture

Try This Quiz on Thrilling Books That Became Popular Movies

Published

on

Try This Quiz on Thrilling Books That Became Popular Movies

Welcome to Great Adaptations, the Book Review’s regular multiple-choice quiz about printed works that have gone on to find new life as movies, television shows, theatrical productions and more. This week’s challenge highlights thrillers first published as novels (or graphic novels) that were adapted into popular films. Just tap or click your answers to the five questions below. And scroll down after you finish the last question for links to the books and their screen versions.

Continue Reading

Culture

Test Your Knowledge of the Authors and Events That Helped Shape the United States

Published

on

Test Your Knowledge of the Authors and Events That Helped Shape the United States

Welcome to Lit Trivia, the Book Review’s regular quiz about books, authors and literary culture. In honor of Gen. George Washington’s birthday on Feb. 22, this week’s super-size challenge is focused on the literature and history related to the American Revolution. In the 10 multiple-choice questions below, tap or click on the answer you think is correct. After the last question, you’ll find links to exhibits, books and other materials related to this intense chapter in the country’s story, including an award-winning biography of the general and first U.S. president.

Continue Reading

Culture

Video: How Much Do You Know About Romance Books?

Published

on

Video: How Much Do You Know About Romance Books?

Let’s play romance roulette. No genre has dominated the books world in the last few years. Like romance, it accounts for the biggest percentage of book sales, their avid fan bases. Everyone has been talking about romance as a Book Review editor and as a fan of the genre myself, I put together a to z glossary of 101 terms that you should know if you want to understand the world of romance are cinnamon roll. You may think a cinnamon roll is a delicious breakfast treat, but in a romance novel, this refers to a typically male character who is so sweet and tender and precious that you just want to protect him and his beautiful heart from the world. Ooh, a rake. This is basically the Playboy of historical romance. He defies societal rules. He drinks, he gambles. He’s out on the town all night and is a very prolific lover with a bit of a reputation as a ladies’ man. FEI these are super strong, super sexy, super powerful, immortal, fairy like creatures. One of my favorite discoveries in terms that I learned was stern brunch daddy. A lot of daddy’s usually a male love interest who seems very intimidating and alpha, but then turns out to be a total softie who just wants to make his love interest brunch. I think there’s a misconception that because these books can follow these typical patterns, that they can be predictable and boring. But I think what makes a really great romance novel is the way that these writers use the tropes in interesting ways, or subvert them. If you can think of it, there’s probably a romance novel about it. Oops, there’s only one bed. This is one of my personal favorite tropes is a twist on forced proximity. Characters find themselves in very close quarters, where inevitably sparks start to fly. Why choose is the porkulus dose of the romance world. Sometimes the best way to resolve a love triangle is by turning it into a circle, where everyone is invited to play. Oops, we lost one spice level. There’s a really wide spectrum. You can range from really low heat or no spice, what might also be called kisses. Only then you start to get into what we call closed door or fade to Black. These books go right up to the moment of intimacy, and then you get into what we call open door, which is more explicit. And sometimes these can get very high heat or spicy and even start verging into kink. There’s one thing that almost every romance novel has in common. It’s that no matter what the characters get up to in the end, it ends with a happily ever after. I say almost every romance novel. Sometimes you’re just happy for now.

Continue Reading

Trending