North Korea at the Olympics: What to know about PRK

North Korean athletes are competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics, but not under the name you might think.

North Korea made its return to the Games after skipping the Tokyo Olympics, citing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The country competes as DPRK.

Here's what to know:

What is DPRK or PRK?

DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is North Korea's official name. South Korea is the Republic of Korea.

North Korea is labeled PRK as a country abbreviation at the Olympics while South Korea is labeled KOR.

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An earlier mistake during the Games saw South Korean athletes introduced as North Korea during the Paris Opening Ceremony.

How many athletes from North Korea are competing in the Olympics?

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In total, 16 athletes from DPRK are competing in this year's Games, but they will only appear in seven events.

Those include: boxing, table tennis, athletics, diving, gymnastics, judo and wrestling.

Already, North Korean athletes have notched Olympic medals.

Most recently, the country won silver in the women’s synchronized 10-meter platform event to capture the nation's first ever Olympic diving medal.

Earlier, a rare moment saw both North Korean and South Korean athletes on the same podium in table tennis. Athletes from the two countries took a selfie together, despite the two countries still being at war.

PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 30: Gold medalists China's Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, silver medalists North Korea's Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong, bronze medalists South Korea's Lim Jonghoon and Shin Yubin pose for a selfie during the medal ceremony after the Table Tennis - Mixed Doubles Gold Medal match on day four of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at South Paris Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Yao Yingkang/Zhejiang Daily/VCG via Getty Images)

North Korea's participation in the PyeongChang Games games spurred some hope internationally that it could mean an easing of tensions between the two. Athletes from the rival countries marched together in the opening ceremony and fielded a single team in women’s ice hockey.

But since those Olympics, North Korea has not participated in both the Tokyo Olympics or the Beijing Olympics and tensions returned.

The IOC suspended North Korea through 2022 for refusing to send a team to the Tokyo Olympics. IOC President Thomas Bach said at the time that individual athletes from North Korea who qualify to compete in Beijing could still be accepted, but none came to participate in the games.