Athletes from North Korea Still to Receive their Galaxy S7 Edge-Olympic Games Edition

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 is already up for pre-orders but a specific edition of the Galaxy S7 Edge is still waiting to reach the ones promised of the same. Samsung is one of the many partners, lending support to the ongoing Rio Olympics 2016 and has been pretty vocal regarding its association to the games. Moreover, the company has also been leveraging the Olympics for promoting its flagships— all across the globe. Amidst speculations and assumptions, the company has manufactured a special, limited edition of its hugely popular smartphone i.e. Galaxy S7 Edge. Better known as the Olympic Games Edition, this variant was expected to reach all the 125,000 athletes competing this year. However, according to reports, the North Korean participants are yet to receive the same.

The report further adds that Samsung isn’t at fault and the devices were actually collected by the officials, accompanying the team. All the 31 athletes from North Korea were expected to receive this edition but the delay seems to have called in for criticisms. However, carrying a smartphone might just be against the predefined protocols for the DPRK athletes, resulting in this delay. Kim Song I, one of the competing athletes from North Korea was asked about the same. However, she denied receiving any such gift from the company or the officials heading the team. Some countries do have certain protocols while participating in the games and this might be a reason the officials confiscated the handsets for the time being. Most athletes are restricted from using streaming apps like showbox or YouTube over their smartphones in addition to other protocols which cannot be breached.

While this remains a valid justification, the fact that Galaxy S7 Edge is made by Samsung— a company located in South Korea, cannot be ignored. South Korea is considered to be the arch rival of the DPRK but this has nothing to do with the athletes not getting what was promised.