“We are not the only pair in the country; five other pairs train with us. And there will be more. We love skating very much and hope to become world-class skaters one day.” Interview with North Korean pair Tae Ok Ryom and Kum Chol Han
Interview with North Korean pair Tae Ok Ryom and Kum Chol Han.
original source: sports.ru dd.1st October by Maya Bagriantseva
In the interview with sports.ru correspondent Maya Bagriantseva Tae Ok Ryom and Kum Chol Han talks about their trainings, pause in competitions and return to international arena. Here’s a translation of their comments.
Tae Ok Ryom and Kum Chol Han competed at the “challengers” in Bergamo and Oberstdorf. There had been no news of the North Koreans since the 2019/20 season. Tae Ok Ryom won bronze at the Four Continents Championships and placed 13th at the Olympics with her previous partner Ju Sik Kim. In the 2018/2019 season they were 4th and 5th at the Grand Prix stages, 11th at the World Championships.
But just a year later, the duo only competed at two events, after which they disappeared from the radar. During the pandemic, there was no news about them and no current information appeared even afterward as the ISU returned to its usual schedule. Their former coach, Canadian Bruno Marcotte, confided in private conversations: it was also a mystery to him — the pair seemed to disappear.
The fact that Tae Ok Ryom continues skating but with a new partner became known by chance — from the social networks of the Russian Minister of Sports, Mikhail Degtyarev. In August, he published a photo from Novogorsk: North Korean skaters on the same ice with athletes from the Russian national team.
Russian coaches dodged questions about the “intergovernmental internship,” but the guests from North Korea shared their memories. “In Novogorsk, they treated us very kindly. We spent 12 days there, and we really liked everything. The coaches were very attentive to us, especially Valeriy,” – Kum Chol Han, apparently referring to Valeriy Artyukhov, the senior coach of the Russian pair skating team. A special excitement was caused by a question about Alena Kostornaia. Tae Ok Ryom smiled, pointed at Alena in the photograph and said in Russian “good”: “She is a very kind and nice girl. Alena and Gosha helped us a lot with technique, we learned a lot from them.”
Han had been to Russia before — back in 2019, he came to Chelyabinsk for the junior Grand Prix stage: “I remember that competitions and our performances well; I skated with another partner — Hyang Mi Ro. We took 5th place and it was a huge success for us,” he recalls with a smile.
When asked about their favorite Russian pairs, the North Koreans, without hesitation, answered: Tarasova – Morozov. “We consider Russian skaters as symbols of world figure skating; we can only aspire to match them. It would be great to come to your rink again someday. We don’t know if this will be possible, but we would be happy,” Han admitted. An interesting detail: 6 years ago, North Korean skaters spoke of Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford in the same terms. The summer before the 2018 Olympic season, Ryom and her partner spent time in Montreal in Bruno Marcotte’s group. The pair requested an internship in Canada after the World Championships, having “fallen in love with the skating of Meagan and Eric.”
In North Korea, how popular is figure skating? Han answers again: “Many Koreans, adults and children, really love figure skating. They not only watch but also skate. In winter, there are many people on the rinks.” “We are not the only pair in the country; five other pairs train with us. And there will be more. We love skating very much and hope to become world-class skaters one day,” the partner adds.
Interestingly, with her previous partner, Ryom skated to Tchaikovsky and even The Beatles. But this year, all skaters from North Korea perform strictly to national compositions. Kum Chol Han explained this choice: “The free program is set to music from our native cinema. It is a movie about the destiny of the North Korean people, our country, and people. And the short program — to a composition about the fathers and mothers of our nation.”
So, what happened to Tae Ok Ryom’s Kum Chol Han’s former partners? We found out. “My former partner got married, and they have a son now. Now Ju Sik Kim works as a coach,” Ryom explained. Possibly, it is related to age and health: Kim is 32 years old, and he had been plagued by injuries even before the 2018 Olympics.
Han’s previous partner is also doing well, according to his words: “She got injured and had to undergo knee surgery. Hyang Mi Ro decided not to skate anymore and enrolled in university. She is now a student.”
Tae Ok Ryom and Kim Chol Han have been skating together for only six months. Apparently, the decision to create a new pair was made in North Korea with an eye on the next Olympics. “We really want to qualify for the Games in Milan. My partner already has Olympic experience, she is the most famous skater in the country. I am proud that I’ve been trusted to skate with her, and I do not want to let her down,” Han admitted.
This fall in Europe, not only North Korean pairs came: two single skaters and even an ISU judge were registered for the Lombardia Trophy and Nebelhorn Trophy.
Besides the skaters, the North Korean team includes many people: coaches, officials, and a few robust men in team jackets. The delegation members stick together — even leaving for the hotel from the rink always in the same minibus. Interestingly, the skaters did not use the locker rooms as attendants are not allowed inside, so the North Koreans changed in the general warm-up room before and after practices.
After the practices, athletes stayed at the rink and watched the competitions from the tribunes. It’s apparent that the team missed the atmosphere of international competitions; the North Korean skaters are always extremely polite and greet everyone. It is somewhat sad that they cannot interact with competitors — the delegation head and judge are the only ones who speak English. The North Korean team did not appear before the press in Oberstdorf but made an exception for SportsRu correspondent.
Interesting, I’m intrigued and excited to see what they bring. Good luck!