▲ The North Korean delegation enters the opening ceremony of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in China on September 23, 2023. (The photo above is unrelated to the content of the article.)
Some members of the North Korean delegation have departed Pyongyang and arrived in Beijing, China, as a stopover, to participate in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games opening on the 19th, Kyodo News reported.
According to the report, dozens of athletes and delegation officials, including those from women's football and gymnastics wearing white jackets, were spotted carrying luggage and boarding buses at Beijing Airport.
Those presumed to be the advance party are expected to head soon to Japan, where the Asian Games will be held.
Kyodo News reported that Kim Il-guk, the North's sports minister who is expected to lead the delegation, was not spotted at Beijing Airport today.
North Korea had previously listed Sports Minister Kim as the head of the delegation in the list of athletes submitted to the Japanese side.
The Japanese government is reportedly set to allow the entry of the North Korean delegation, which has expressed its intention to participate in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
While the Japanese government in principle bans the entry of North Korean nationals as part of unilateral sanctions over nuclear and missile development, it sometimes makes exceptions for sports exchanges.
Once entry is permitted, the North Korean women's national football team is scheduled to play its first group-stage match against Bangladesh in Osaka on the 14th.
The size of the North Korean delegation participating in this Asian Games is approximately 180 people, including officials, making it the largest-ever North Korean sports delegation to visit Japan for an athletic competition.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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