TOKYO (AP) North Korea’s national soccer teams have arrived in Tokyo as an exception to Japanese sanctions against Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear development.
North Korea is competing against Japan, China and South Korea in the E-1 Football Championship, which starts Friday.
The arrival of North Korea’s men’s and women’s teams comes amid growing tension in the region. Pyongyang test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed within Japan’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, which experts said could hit Washington if launched on a standard trajectory. The U.S. and South Korean militaries are holding a major air force exercise.
Japan has banned North Korean nationals from entering the country as part of its sanctions against Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests.
