OBERSTDORF, Germany — Over the past 24 years, while covering international sports for The Times, I’ve encountered North Korean athletes and officials on a number of occasions. Though the country is extremely isolated, its sportsmen and sportswomen compete around the world in Olympic sports and in soccer.
I never get a call or an email returned from North Korean officials. News conferences can be tense affairs that end abruptly. Yet I’ve found something that appears counterintuitive but nearly always seems to work: simply walking up and introducing yourself. What can seem to be a forbidding political and cultural chasm can be partly overcome, in my experience, with impromptu one-on-one interactions.