North Korean footballers greet their supporters after a 10-0 win over Bangladesh in their opening Group F match of the women’s football preliminaries at the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan, on Sept. 14.NEWS1
KARIYA, Japan — North Korean athletes set foot on Japanese soil for a major international competition for the first time in 41 years this week, opening their campaign at the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 with a win over Bangladesh in women's football.
On Monday, some 1,000 students and ethnic Koreans affiliated with the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan filled the stands at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan, roaring in support throughout North Korea's Group D opener. The match marked North Korea's first appearance at a major multisport event on Japanese soil since the 1985 Kobe Universiade.
The reclusive state's history with sports events in Japan has been especially thin.
When Tokyo hosted the Asian Games in 1958, North Korea had not yet joined the Asian Games Federation, the precursor to the Olympic Council of Asia, the current official governing body of the Asian Games. It skipped the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games amid worsening relations with Japan and internal turmoil following Kim Il Sung's death. It also sat out both Tokyo Olympics in 1964 and 2021 because of political circumstances and Covid-19 quarantine concerns.
The Japanese government bans entry by North Korean nationals under its own sanctions over the North's nuclear and missile programs, but it made an exception for this competition in the name of international sporting exchange. North Korea sent a delegation of roughly 180, including 107 athletes competing in 14 sports such as football, weightlifting and wrestling. Among the marquee names on the roster are 2024 Paris Olympics table tennis mixed doubles silver medalists Ri Jong-sik and Kim Kum-yong, diver Kim Mi-rae and gymnast An Chang-ok.
The mood among North Korean athletes making their first trip to Japan in decades swung between calm and wariness. At a press conference at Kariya Stadium on Tuesday, men's football coach Ri Kwang-chon was asked about his thoughts on competing in a tournament hosted by Japan and coolly deflected, saying, "That has nothing to do with the match."
North Korea's men's national football team manager Ri Kwang-chon speaks at a press conference in Kariya, Japan, on Sept. 15.KIM HYO-KYOUNG
Asked about a possible quarterfinal meeting with the host nation, he was equally matter-of-fact: "They are a opponent. There is no other meaning to it. If we meet them, we will give everything we have and show what we can do on the pitch."
Ri kept his tactics tightly under wraps. Organizers had originally planned to open part of a training session at Toyota Stadium to the media, but access was blocked on-site. With only a brief explanation — "there was an instruction from the coach not to open it" — the North Korean team sealed itself off and quietly wrapped up training under tight security.
Years of international isolation and economic hardship have weakened North Korea's presence in international sports. It finished 68th overall at the 2024 Paris Olympics, with two silver medals and four bronze.
At this year's Asian Games, the country appears to be struggling even to secure equipment for some events. It recently made headlines when the North Korean Olympic committee asked South Korea's canoe federation whether it could borrow two canoe sprint boats. The two Koreas have had a friendly sporting history, fielding a joint dragon boat racing team at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games and a unified women's hockey team at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, but in the end the equipment request was resolved by the Games organizing committee, which supplied the boats itself.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
