Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series on North Korea’s hosting of the World Table Tennis Championships in 1979.

The “ping-pong diplomacy” between the U.S. and China, which enabled the thawing of the adversaries’ icy Cold War relationship, is perhaps the most famous example of how sport can create opportunities for nations to foster positive ties, especially when traditional diplomacy is unlikely to succeed.

What’s far less widely known is that North Korea once tried to do the same thing.

In 1979, Pyongyang hosted the 35th World Table Tennis Championships (WTTC), welcoming 71 teams from