In a rare display of public emotion in
North Korea, foreign professional wrestlers bring circus-style mayhem to
Pyongyang
Flamboyant Japanese wrestler-turned-politician Kanji "
Antonio" Inoki kicked off his brand of sports diplomacy in North Korea Saturday in an unusual two-day event featuring martial artists from around the world.
Inoki, 71, an opposition member of
Japan's upper house with a penchant for red scarves, has travelled to the reclusive state with a host of international fighters in an attempt to use sport to thaw relations between
Tokyo and Pyongyang.
He met with North Korea's ceremonial head of state
Kim Yong-Nam on Saturday, hours before the first night of the "
International Pro Wrestling Festival" kicked off at
Pyongyang's 20,000-seat
Ryugyong Jong Ju-Yong
Stadium.
Kim presides over North Korea's parliament, the
Supreme People's Assembly, and often receives state guests or credentials from foreign ambassadors – an indication of how seriously Pyongyang is taking Inoki's visit.
"I feel very grateful for your continuous efforts to promote mutual understanding between the two countries and create an environment toward improvement in
Korea-Japan relations," the 86-year-old Kim told Inoki at the
Mansudae Assembly Hall,
Kyodo news agency reported.
Supreme leader Kim Jong-un, who is a keen sports fan, did not appear at the martial arts event as he did in January when former US basketball star
Dennis Rodman sang "
Happy Birthday" to him before an exhibition game.
Speaking at the opening, Inoki said that "prompted by this international event,
I am hoping that the door of Japan and (
North) Korea that has been shut for a long time will be opened".
Inoki – who stands six feet three inches tall – has organised the festival with North Korea's authorities, taking along 21 grapplers from Japan, the US,
France and
Brazil as well as one from
China, North Korea's communist ally.
They include
Bob Sapp, a former
American mixed martial artist and household name in Japan,
Jerome Le Banner of France and Brazilian
Montanha Silva.
When Inoki and his entourage arrived in Pyongyang via
Beijing on Thursday, he held talks with
Kang Sok-Ju, a key figure in North Korea's diplomatic circles and a secretary of the
Workers Party.
North Korea's high-profile treatment of Inoki seems to indicate its readiness to improve ties with Japan, public broadcaster
NHK said.
Inoki is best known abroad for battling then world heavyweight champion
Muhammad Ali in a zany wrestler-versus-boxer in Tokyo in
1976.
But he has also cultivated strong connections with the Pyongyang regime, having now made 30 trips since
1974 to the isolated state, the birthplace of his late wrestling mentor known by the ring name of
Rikidozan who still remains a sporting legend in Japan and a national hero in North Korea.
His willingness to involve himself in Japan's diplomacy made headlines in
1990, when he helped secure the release of 41 Japanese hostages in
Iraq during the Gulf War after meeting
Saddam Hussein's son and staging a wrestling show in
Baghdad.
In
1995, Inoki organised and competed in the first-ever pro-wrestling exhibition in North Korea, featuring matches between Japanese and US pro-wrestlers with an ailing Ali as a guest. He retired from wrestling in
1998.
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- published: 30 Aug 2014
- views: 95203