Asian Games: North Korea athletes arrive in Beijing en route to Japan

Members of the North Korean delegation arrive at an airport in Beijing on Sept. 8, 2026, en route to Japan for the Asian Games. (Kyodo)

Several dozen North Korean athletes arrived at a Beijing airport on Tuesday en route to the Asian Games to be held from later this month mainly in central Japan, with diplomatic sources saying they were the first batch of the delegation.

North Korean sports minister Kim Il Guk, who is expected to lead the country’s delegation, was not spotted at the airport with the athletes.

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The North Korean representatives wore pins on their white jackets depicting the country’s past leaders. Before the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games officially open on Sept. 19, the North Korean women’s football team will play Bangladesh next Monday in the group stage at a stadium in Osaka in western Japan.

The North Korea men’s and women’s football teams are scheduled to arrive at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture on Friday, according to the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan.

Tokyo has in principle banned North Korean citizens from entering Japan as part of sanctions against Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development programs, but has made exceptions for sports events. The two nations have no diplomatic relations.

According to a source at the pro-Pyongyang association, North Korea’s delegation for the Asian Games running through Oct. 4 is expected to be made up of about 180 athletes and officials.

It would be one of the largest delegations North Korea has ever sent to a sporting event in Japan.