The 28th World Memory Championship held in China from December 4, 2019 drew about 500 participants, male and female, chosen from more than 40 countries and regions, including the DPRK, China, India, Mongolia, Germany and the UK.
Not much attention was given to the participants from the DPRK until the contest began.
However, the first-day performance of the DPRK participants drew the focus of attention from the jury and distinguished people from different countries as well as the participants.
When the championship came to an end the world’s memory giants, amazed at the result of the championship carried by a website, expressed their admiration, saying, “The participants from the DPRK made a really surprising record. It’s incredible—unbelievable. It’s unimaginable for a human being.” One of the co-founders of the World Memory Association said, “It’s great. I am sure there will be no countries within ten years at least that will be able to break the Korean record.” A prominent figure from Algeria gave the thumbs up in the middle of the championship, saying, “That’s wonderful. The Koreans’ performance is excellent . This contest is great for the Korean participants.” A British member of the jury mentioned that the championship had made the record high with the Korean participantion, and went on, “I think the DPRK team will win a sweeping victory next year, too, and I am afraid it may lead to less enthusiasm about the championship among participants from other countries. If the DPRK team bags all the gold medals like this, there might be little interest in the contest. The recent championship was really great with the sweeping victory of the DPRK.”
People from many other countries including India and Pakistan expressed their admiration at the achievement of the DPRK participants.
“Sweeping victory of the DPRK” was probably the most vivid expression that summarized the charactoristics of the championship.
