North Korean Soccer Players Enter Japan for Asian Games

Osaka, Sept. 11 (Jiji Press)–North Korean soccer players entered Japan aboard an aircraft arriving at Kansai International Airport near Osaka on Friday for the Asian Games. Other members of the North Korean delegation for the sporting event mainly in Aichi Prefecture will arrive in Japan on Thursday. The Japanese government bans the entry of North Korean nationals as part of its sanctions against North Korea. The North Korean delegation is allowed in under a special measure. Some 30 players and officials of the North Korean men’s soccer team appeared at the airport’s arrival lobby in the afternoon, wearing white jackets featuring the country’s national flag on the left of the chest. The team received flowers while waving and smiling at about 100 people who came to welcome them. They then left by bus for accommodations in Aichi. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a press conference in Tokyo that the entry of the North Korean national soccer team is an exception. “We judged that there are special circumstances to allow entry exceptionally, referring to similar cases in the past,” Kihara said. “There is no change” in the entry ban on North Korean nationals, he added. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]