North Korea, seeking gold medals in women’s football, table tennis, weightlifting and other sports, has begun its journey to the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The North is expected to encounter South Korean athletes amid some of the coldest inter-Korean relations in years, following the recent confirmation that Pyongyang has removed references to “unification” and “the Korean nation” from the rules of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. According to Japan’s Kyodo News, a North Korean delegation of about 60 people arrived in Beijing on a flight from Pyongyang on Tuesday. The delegation is expected to enter Japan as early as Thursday with permission from the Japanese government. Japan generally bans the entry of North Korean nationals as part of its independent sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs, but has made exceptions for sporting exchanges. The North Korean delegation is expected to number about 180 people and compete in 14 sports, including football, weightlifting, table tennis and wrestling, according to the report. The figure is larger than the