JAKARTA: The capital city of North Korea, Pyongyang, will host the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in October 2019 following the successful Winter Olympic Games at the same venue earlier this year, AFP reports.
North Korea is dominating the sport of weightlifting at the on-going Asian Games in Jakarta in which they have clinched seven Gold medals. It is on the side lines of the competition that the decision was confirmed following an agreement signed by the Asian Weightlifting Federation and the country’s sports minister Kim II Guk on Sunday. Kim confirmed that there will be no restrictions imposed to athletes and officials of any country for the 2019 tournament.
The country has attempted to utilize sport to end their political isolation from the rest of world, following UN Security Council sanctions over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, meaning it lost the right to hold the Junior World Weightlifting Championships and the Youth Junior World Judo Championships this year.
North Korea has combined with neighbours South Korea in several sports in multi-discipline competitions this year to play under the one flag of Korea and end hostile relations.
