1988 Summer Olympics boycott

The boycott of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul followed four years after the Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The boycott involved seven socialist countries: North Korea and four of its allies, Cuba, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, and Madagascar, all of whom withdrew specifically in protest against North Korea's failure to secure a role as co-host of the Games; and the Seychelles and Albania, who did not offer reasons for their absence.

Occurring in the closing years of the Cold War, the boycott represented a fracturing of the Eastern Bloc alliance, with a preponderance of Bloc countries choosing to attend the Seoul Olympics rather than supporting North Korea. The following year North Korea hosted its own sporting event, the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students, in Pyongyang.