North Korea targets more medals with smaller team at 2026 Asian Games

North Korea plans to send approximately 100 athletes to compete in 14 sports at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, a senior official with the country's national Olympic committee said Tuesday.

Speaking to the Choson Sinbo, a Tokyo-based pro-North newspaper, national Olympic committee secretary general Ko Chol-ho expressed hope that the delegation would win more medals at the upcoming event than in the previous games, despite its reduced size and participation in fewer sports.

North Korea had registered 185 athletes across 18 sports for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. Pyongyang came home with 11 golds, 18 silvers and 10 bronzes from the event, which took place in September 2023 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ko emphasized efforts made by North Korean athletes over the past few years, saying they had done "everything they could to deliver better results" amid "high expectations" from the country and the people.

He said the 2026 roster includes two Korean athletes from Japan — footballer Ri Song-a and karate practitioner Jong Se-ri.

The quadrennial competition will take place in and around Japan's Aichi Prefecture, with the prefecture's capital, Nagoya, serving as the main host.

The opening ceremony will take place Sept. 19, though preliminary action for sports such as basketball, football, hockey and volleyball will take place in the days before that. The closing ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 4.

Yonhap