North Korea to ‘bring joy’ to Kim with 100 athletes at Asian Games in Japan

North Korea will dispatch around 100 athletes to compete in 14 sports at the upcoming Asian Games in Japan next month, according to a senior official. The goal is to "bring joy to Marshal Kim Jong Un." The nuclear-armed country had suspended participation in international sporting events during the COVID-19 pandemic but returned to the Asian Games in China in 2023, as well as the Paris Olympics.

The Nagoya and Aichi region Games will feature a team of athletes, including two Japanese-born Koreans competing in women's football and karate, according to Ko Chol Ho, secretary general of North Korea's Olympic committee. Ko told a pro-North Korean publication in Japan that the delegation will send more than 100 athletes to compete, including in sports such as men's and women's football, weightlifting, boxing, and wrestling.

The official expressed his efforts to meet the expectations of his country and people by achieving greater results at the Games, hoping for a larger medal haul than the 11 gold medals won at the 2023 Hangzhou Games, where half of them were in weightlifting. The official stated that the athletes' morale is high for the event, which runs from September 19 to October 4, and they are motivated to win for their leader.

North Korea has recently criticized Japan, its former regional colonial power, over perceived remilitarization.