Japan is mulling North Korea’s participation in the 2026 Asian Games after the reclusive regime expressed interest in taking part, despite sanctions that ban entry of North Korean citizens into the country.
Japan is set to host the Asian Games from 19 September to 4 October next year in Aichi Prefecture and its capital Nagoya with 45 member countries of the Olympic Council of Asia participating in the event.
North Korean officials have told the organising committee of the Asian Games that it would send a delegation of more than 260 members to Japan to participate in 17 events, including football, people familiar with the matter told Kyodo News.
It would include 150 North Korean athletes who will take part in sporting events alongside athletes from member countries such as South Korea, China and India.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, confirmed the request made by North Korea in a daily briefing, saying: “The Asian Games’ organising committee has consulted our sports ministry about the participation of North Korean athletes in this event”.
He said the government was in the process of considering the request with consultation with other ministries.
North Korean women wearing track suits with the North Korean flag and the words Taekwon-Do printed on the back walk to check in for a flight to Astana at the Capital Airport in Beijing, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023 (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
As part of its unilateral measures, Japan bans North Korean citizens from entering the country, restricts trade, and limits remittances. These measures are part of wider efforts at pressuring Pyongyang over its weapons programme and repeated missile tests.
The ban is sweeping but not absolute – Japan has occasionally allowed exceptions, such as for sports events or humanitarian cases. Still, diplomatic ties remain severed amid a history of fraught relations tracing back to Japan’s colonisation of Korea.
Despite restrictions, North Korean athletes have traditionally participated in games, including Rio 2016 and the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
However, North Korea imposed rigid border controls and restrictions for its citizens during the Covid 19 pandemic and did not send a delegation to the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.
It resumed participation with the 2023 Asian Games between September and October in Hangzhou, China, and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
AloJapan.com