Sorry, North Korea. No free phones after the Olympics

Unlike their fellow Olympians, North Korea's athletes will leave the Summer Games without any free smartphones,after officials warned the planned giveaway would violate UN sanctions.

Samsung, in partnership with the Olympics, had planned to give a limited edition of its Galaxy Z Flip 6 smartphoneto every competitor in Paris.

But South Korea, where the technology giant is based, said Thursday that would go against sanctions against the North over itsnuclear and missile program.

The UN has an extensive list of items that members are supposed to prevent from entering North Korea because they could be used"for a nefarious purpose," saidJean H. Lee, a former Associated Press journalist who opened the news agency's first bureau in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

She says equipment used to make baby food, for example, can berepurposed for biochemical weapons.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said smartphones are among the items banned under Security Council Resolution 2397 passed in 2017, which prohibits the supply, sale or transfer to North Korea of "all industrial machinery."

Lee Jaewoong, the ministry's spokesperson, said itwould be "critical to prevent the prohibited items from going into North Korea."

He said Seoul was making "necessary diplomatic efforts" to ensure sanctions are upheld, but refused to provide details.

Absent from recent Games

Even if the athletes took the phones home, Lee says they would likely not be of much use.

"They have their own cellphones and smartphones in North Korea, but they are not connected to our internet, and they are very restricted in terms of the apps and programs and information that they can access," she said.

"So it's highly unlikely that they would be able to use a Samsung smartphone in North Korea."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that the phones were sent to the Olympic village, then later said the North Korean athletes had not received them. It's unclear where the phones went.

The smartphone issue previously came up at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, when North Koreans refused to accept Samsung devices that the organizing committee had offered under condition that they return them before going home, according to South Korean officials.

North Korea did not participate in the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo in 2021 because of a self-imposed COVID-19lockdown, and the IOC then barred the country from participating in the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing as punishment for refusing to send a team to Tokyo.

North Korea sent 16 athletes to this year'sParis Games to compete in seven sports, including wrestling, swimming, table tennis and boxing, under the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Tina Park, CEO of the Park Group, a consulting company that focuses on international security issues, says North Korean athletes are having a different experience those from other countries because of the North's restrictive regime.

"They probably have security guards and others following them. They're not free to explore wherever they want in Paris, for instance," she said. "Whenever a North Korean delegation is abroad, they are carefully watched."

Park says the regime is sensitive about anyone going abroad because of recent defections, and the athletes were likely carefully vetted.

'Re-engaging' with the world

Observers have noticed North Korean athletes mingling with competitors from other countries, however, even taking part in the Olympic tradition of swapping pins.

In a photo that garnered plenty of online attention, a South Korean table tennis player took a selfie with his mixed-doubles partner alongsidethe North Korean team. (South Korea took the bronze, the North won silver.)

Park says the athletes were likely given permission to do that, to bring positive publicity to a country that is isolated and largely ostracized.

Lee says the athletes play an important roleas ambassadors for their country, and theselfie was a "powerful moment in sports diplomacy."

She says sport is a huge part of North Korea's culture, and successful athletes will likely get a celebrity treatment back home potentially accompanied with gifts from the state, even "a nice apartment."

Those who fail will likely be subject to a stern "self criticism session," which she compared to a cross between school detention and confession.

But Lee says the North's returntointernational sporting competitions is significant, especially after the country sealed its borders in 2020, andthat it's important to acknowledge these small steps while giving theathletes a chance to compete and other North Koreans an opening to emerge from isolation.

"I see this as a deliberate step towards re-engaging with the world, and that's very positive," she said. "From my perspective, isolating North Korea doesn't help anyone."