North Korea’s Olympic committee met last week and announced new performance and compliance standards last Friday, a sign that the country’s athletes may be preparing to return to international competition after years of pandemic isolation.

The DPRK was barred from Olympic competition last year after it was a no-show at the Summer Games in Tokyo in 2021. Pyongyang has disallowed its athletes from competing abroad since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Vice-Premier Ri Song Hak and sports minister Kim Il Guk and other officials attended last week’s meeting, pledging to “accelerate the work to continuously increase the number of medals won