North Korea has expressed its intent to participate in the Asian Games in Japan next year.

Citing a member of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games organizing committee, Japan’s Kyodo News reported on Wednesday that North Korea hopes to send a delegation of about 260 to 270, including roughly 150 athletes across 17 sports.

Kyodo News reported that the North Korean delegation will be unusually large and that the Japanese government will carefully consider its response.

Japan has banned the entry of North Korean nationals following the regime's repeated ballistic missile launches.

But in February and March of 2024, Japan allowed dozens of North Korean athletes in to take part in football matches, stressing that travel for sports competitions is an exception to the sanction measures.