Merited Athlete

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{{Infobox award

| name = Merited Athlete

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| awarded_for = "[Making] distinguished contributions to the nation's athletics, receiving the love and respect of the people for devoting [one's self] to national and social projects"{{sfn|North Korea Handbook|2002|p=496}}

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| country = North Korea

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{{Infobox Korean name

| hangul = 공훈체육인

| hanja = 功勳體育人

| rr = Gonghun cheyugin

| mr = Konghun ch'eyugin

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Merited Athlete is an honorary title of North Korea given to sports persons.{{Cite web | title = Chests Full of Brass: A DPRK Political History in Orders, Medals, Prizes, and Titles | last = Weiser | first = Martin | work = Sino-NK | date = 8 January 2016 | access-date = 18 April 2016 | url = http://sinonk.com/2016/01/08/chests-full-of-brass-a-dprk-political-history-in-orders-medals-prizes-and-titles/ }} It is awarded to "athletes and workers engaged in the athletic field who make distinguished contributions to the nation's athletics, receiving the love and respect of the people for devoting themselves to national and social projects".{{sfn|North Korea Handbook|2002|p=496}} A typical achievement is winning a regional competition in Asia.{{Cite web | title = North Korea's athlete factories: how they work | author = Seol Song Ah | work = Daily NK | date = 1 February 2018 | access-date = 2 April 2018 | url = http://english.dailynk.com/english/read.php/read.php?num=14975&cataId=nk01500 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The title was instituted in November 1960.{{sfn|North Korea Handbook|2002|p=496}}

{{As of|1984}}, Merited Athletes are paid a 70-won (32-dollar) monthly pension after they retire at age 60, equivalent to an ordinary office worker's pay.{{cite journal|title=ROK Outshines N.K. in 8 Sports|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kVDAAAAYAAJ|number=1–26|journal=Korea Newsreview|volume=13|year=1984|publisher=The Korea Herald|location=Seoul|oclc=473441715|page=217}} Merited Athletes have also been given luxurious apartments.{{Cite journal | title = North Korea's Dash toward Sports Power | journal = Vantage Point | volume = 37 | number = 10 | year = 2014 | issn = 1228-517X | pages = 25–26 | access-date = 2 April 2018 | url = http://img.yonhapnews.co.kr/basic/article/en/PDF/20141020/20141020110614_vp10(2014)%EB%82%B4%EC%A7%80-low.pdf#page=25 }} A Merited Athlete may become a sporting coach if they complete a four-year course at the Korean Athletics University.

Sports persons may also be awarded the titles of People's Athlete or Hero of Labour.