North Korea said on Tuesday it would not take part in the Tokyo Olympics due to coronavirus concerns, dashing South Korean hopes that the Games could be a catalyst to revive peace talks.

It will be the first time North Korea has missed a summer Olympics since it boycotted the Seoul games in 1988, during the Cold War.

South Korean president Moon Jae-in had hoped the two countries, still technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, could field a combined team in Tokyo and rebuild momentum for an improvement in relations.

The North’s withdrawal is also a setback for Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s plan, agreed in 2018, to pursue a joint Korean bid to host the 2032 Games.

When South Korea hosted the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018, both teams marched under a unified flag at the opening ceremony and fielded a combined women’s ice hockey team.

South Korea’s unification ministry said Seoul had hoped the Tokyo Olympics would be a chance to “foster peace and reconciliation”.