North Korea will not participate in Beijing Winter Olympics, blames U.S.

North Korea said Friday it has decided not to participate in the upcoming Beijing Olympics and Paralympics, blaming the United States' attempts to prevent "the successful opening of the Winter Games."Pyongyang also said the global spread of COVID-19 has motivated it to skip the sporting event. It did not send a team to last summer's Tokyo Games, citing the coronavirus pandemic.The decision was conveyed to China in a letter from North Korea's national Olympic committee and sports ministry, state-run media said.Preparations for the Beijing Olympics, which open Feb. 4, are "being satisfactoril…READ FULL ARTICLE