During the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games, North Korea's national figure skating pairs representatives Lion Dae-ok and Han Kim Chul spoke after winning the medal. On the 12th, after winning the silver medal in the figure skating pairs competition of the Asian Winter Games held at the Heilongjiang Provincial Ice Training Center Complex in Harbin, the two athletes attended an official press conference to express their gratitude to Kim Hyun-sun, the head coach of the figure skating team and the godmother of figure skating in the country and North Korea, and said that they would continue to move forward.

North Korean pair Lim Dae-ok (right) - Han Kim Chol attended the press conference

On the same day, the two contestants entered the press conference with a more pleasant expression. According to the wishes of the contestants, they could not participate in the press conference, but the two contestants accepted the advice of the organizing committee of the competition and finally participated. A person from the organizing committee of the competition, who presided over the press conference, asked the reporter to "not ask political questions" and asked Han Jinzhe about his feelings about winning the medal as soon as possible. Han Jinzhe said: "I would like to greet our Chinese friends who gave us warm cheers, strength and courage when they watched our game. ”

The day's questions focused mainly on the North Korean athletes. The Uzbek pair, who won the gold medal, accepted only one question, but the reporter asked a total of three questions to the North Korean athletes. The answer was given by Lian Dayu, a female player with rich experience in participating in international comprehensive competitions. When asked "how did you feel when you played in Harbin", Lian replied: "First of all, I want to express my gratitude to all the members. With regard to your encouragement and support during the conference, I would like to express my gratitude to Harbin and the Chinese people. ”

North Korean pair Lion Dae-ok (right) - Han Kim Chol attended the press conference and listened to questions from reporters

Lian Dayu continued: "I did a lot of training and learned a lot before the big competition. I was also worried about changing team-mates (partners), but everybody here supported me, so for us, the game gave us strength, so I felt good about the game. ”

When asked by a local Chinese reporter about witnessing Lian Dayu's acting skills at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Lian Dayu replied with a happy expression, "I have participated in Pyeongchang (Winter Olympics)." Then he participated in the 9th Asian Winter Games (Harbin Asian Winter Games) with a change of partners. ”

Lim Dayu also said: "This was the case in Pyeongchang, and it is the same now, we are only in the learning stage, and we will continue to move forward in the future." "(With Han Jin-chul) I haven't been together for long, so I'll continue to work hard. For the Olympics. ”

Lian Dayu and Han Jinzhe won the silver medal in figure skating pairs at the 2025 Asian Winter Games on the 12th, and they stood on the podium and waved

When asked by a South Korean reporter about finishing third in the short program and first place overall in the free skate, Yeom's expression stiffened. Lian Dayu looked at the face of the host instead of the reporter and said: "Regarding the result, I am not satisfied with anything yet. We still have a long way to go and a lot to learn. ”

Lian Dayu then drew the line and said: "Because everyone is a player who works hard to win the championship, we are definitely not satisfied with the silver medal. She also emphasized, "I was able to come here thanks to Coach (Kim Hyun-sun). The coach's effort is not 99%, but 100%. In addition, it is impossible to stand here without our Motherland. ”

The two players did not respond to questions from South Korean reporters during the tournament. The same is true in the joint interview area. A North Korean official also said to a South Korean reporter in an unhonorific language: "Go away." In addition, the press conference was conducted through simultaneous interpretation, and the translator wrote Chinese No. 1, English No. 2, Japanese No. 3, Korean No. 4, and Russian No. 5.

Lim Dae-ok and Han Jin-chul were very satisfied after finishing their performances in the figure skating pairs free skating competition at the Asian Winter Games on the 12th.

But at the same time, the translator said, "This is Korean No. 4." On that day, Yeom Daeok/Han Kim Chul scored the highest total of 112.20 out of the six teams in the free skate, and with the short program, their combined total score of 168.88 points put them in second place behind the Uzbek pair (176.43 points).

Since the 2011 Astana-Almaty Winter Games, North Korea has won three consecutive medals in figure skating pairs. This is the first time in 22 years that North Korea has won a silver medal in the Asian Winter Games after the women's 3,000m relay in short track speed skating at the 2003 Aomori Asian Winter Games.

North Korean players using simultaneous interpreters written in Korean

After winning bronze medals in pairs skating at the 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games with former partner Kim Joo-sik, Yeom Daeok is on the podium for the second time in a row. Yeom Daeok also competed with Kim Joo-sik at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.