The games, one of the big sports events in the country, is held every year with the birthday of President Kim Il Sung as an occasion and has a history of decades.

In this regard, KCNA had an interview with Pak Kwang Rim, a section chief of the Central Sports Events Bureau.

Question: Will you tell about an effect of the games on the nation's sports development?

Answer: In the past games our athletes fully displayed their technical skills and physical fitness as well as tactics to get estimate of their capabilities they had trained in winter season.

The sports associations for events have grasped the technical level of each team and player, through the games, to work out a practicable plan for developing the technique of each event in Korean way. They have also selected promising athletes and taken relevant steps to guide their training.

Q: I would like to know about events of the ongoing games and its preparations.

A: Involved in the games are nearly 40 events and 500 categories.

We sponsored courses for referees and coaches to inform of the rules and regulations of each sporting event and other technical matters related to the games.

Domestic athletes were selected and a track decided for the IAAF-27th Mangyongdae Prize Marathon. Now, we are doing our best to make this contest an occasion of bringing a fresh turn in the development of marathon technique.

All the participants in the games are filled with the will to set a new record in each event, displaying their high sporting skills, strong collectivism and noble morality.