BEIJING SNAPSHOT: N. Korea not at Games but diplomat remains
The North Korean flag flies above the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

The North Korean flag flies above the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

Feb. 17, 2022 05:00 AM EST
Pedestrians walk past the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

Pedestrians walk past the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

Feb. 17, 2022 05:00 AM EST
Pictures of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un hang in a display outside the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

Pictures of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un hang in a display outside the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

Feb. 17, 2022 05:00 AM EST
A woman enters the North Korean Embassy compound in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

A woman enters the North Korean Embassy compound in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

Feb. 17, 2022 05:01 AM EST
An abandoned concession stand advertising goods in Korean stands outside one of the entrances of the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

An abandoned concession stand advertising goods in Korean stands outside one of the entrances of the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

Feb. 17, 2022 05:01 AM EST
Apartment blocks at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

Apartment blocks at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

Feb. 17, 2022 05:01 AM EST
A pillar inscribed with a homage of North Korea's former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il stands in the courtyard of the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

A pillar inscribed with a homage of North Korea's former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il stands in the courtyard of the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

Feb. 17, 2022 05:01 AM EST
A Korean eyeglass shop sits nestled next to the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

A Korean eyeglass shop sits nestled next to the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

Feb. 17, 2022 05:02 AM EST
FILE - Journalists film then North Korean Ambassador to China Ji Jae Ryong as he leaves after giving a press conference at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Monday, May 15, 2017. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. Ji Jae-Ryong, 79, has been apart from his family for years even though his replacement arrived last February, two sources familiar with the matter say. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

FILE - Journalists film then North Korean Ambassador to China Ji Jae Ryong as he leaves after giving a press conference at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Monday, May 15, 2017. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. Ji Jae-Ryong, 79, has been apart from his family for years even though his replacement arrived last February, two sources familiar with the matter say. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

Feb. 17, 2022 04:59 AM EST
FILE - Under the portraits of the late North Korean leaders, Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il, then North Korean Ambassador to China Ji Jae-Ryong arrives for a press conference at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Monday, May 15, 2017. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. Ji Jae-Ryong, 79, has been apart from his family for years even though his replacement arrived last February, two sources familiar with the matter say. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

FILE - Under the portraits of the late North Korean leaders, Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il, then North Korean Ambassador to China Ji Jae-Ryong arrives for a press conference at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Monday, May 15, 2017. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. Ji Jae-Ryong, 79, has been apart from his family for years even though his replacement arrived last February, two sources familiar with the matter say. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

Feb. 17, 2022 04:59 AM EST
A police officer stands guard by the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

A police officer stands guard by the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

Feb. 17, 2022 05:00 AM EST