Japan will co-host an international professional wrestling event with North Korea next month.
 
Antonio Inoki, Japan’s professional wrestler-turned-upper house lawmaker, made the announcement on Monday at a news conference in Tokyo.
 
He said the two countries will host a professional wrestling competition in Pyongyang for two days beginning on August 30. 
 
Thirty professional wrestlers from across the world, including the United States and France, will participate in the event.  
 
Inoki, a member of Japan’s House of Councillors, is serving as the head of Sports Peace Community Association, a non-profit organization. He opened a branch of the association in Pyongyang in 2013.
 
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported earlier on the professional wrestling competition. In May, the KCNA said that Inoki and the North’s International Martial Arts Games Committee Chairman Chang Ung will serve as the joint chairs of an organizing committee for the event.