By Alex Jensen
SEOUL (AA) – North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un is expected to be too busy to attend the second day of inter-Korean basketball games Thursday, having also missed the previous day's action.
This week's series of four friendly matches over two days — the first of their kind in 15 years and featuring men and women from both Koreas — was initiated by Kim himself during his meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in April.
Known to be a big basketball fan, Kim has famously developed a friendship in recent years with ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman.
“The chairman is currently giving on-site guidance, so it is likely that he might not attend today's matches, ” United Front Department head Kim Yong-chol was quoted by Yonhap News Agency as telling South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon during a meeting in Pyongyang.
Cho is leading the South's basketball delegation of 100 members.
Despite his busy schedule, Chairman Kim is understood to have watched the first day's games on television and is also set to welcome U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week.
Pompeo is due to arrive in Pyongyang on Friday for denuclearization talks.
Amid concerns that North Korea has failed to demonstrate any clear plan to abandon its nukes, security experts in the South suspect Pyongyang of being behind continued cyber-attacks.
Cyber security sources cited by Yonhap claimed Thursday that North Korean hackers have ignored the spirit of cooperation that followed April's inter-Korean summit.
They have allegedly recently targeted South Korean hospitals and manufacturers, for example, as well as sending e-mails masquerading as government officials from the South.
“Judging solely by (the) latest actions by North Korean hackers, it seems that cyber space is excluded from the agreement on ending hostile acts, ” a local expert was quoted as saying.
