Spirit of sport wins amid the tussle of the two Koreas

It was just a selfie that two young girls, both gymnasts at the Olympics, were posing for. Except it wasn’t.

For Hong Un-Jong of North Korea, the photo she took with 17-year-old South Korean gymnast Lee Eun-Ju could have her thrown at the dogs when she went back home. In her home country, meeting with a South Korean without a government order signing off on it could be punishable by execution.

The Kim Jong-Un-dictated North Korea is forever at loggerheads with South Korea. The horrific Korean War ended in 1953 and since then the political relations between North and South Korea have remained unfriendly.

But the friendly photo of the two athletes went viral on social media in no time.

Since the Korean War, the countries do not allow phone calls, letters or emails among their citizens. Cross-border visits are barred without official permission, which both governments rarely give. There is little love lost even among the citizens of the two countries.

Hence, a moment like this at the Rio Olympics was the least expected.

The 2016 Games was the teenager's maiden Olympics. She was the last-minute replacement of an injured athlete and hence her early elimination was not surprising.

However, the two girls earned attention and respect by her brave act of approaching Hong Un-Jong for the selfie. 

North Korea has one of the world's worst human rights records, it is even a possibility that Jong would be executed for mingling with a South Korean citizen, if the dictator, Jong-Un decided to do so. The world is praying that it won’t happen.