Athletes from all over the world will look to make history as the 33rd Summer Olympics kick off in Paris this week, and the global multi-sport event will also see the return of a country that has not been on this stage for almost a decade — North Korea.

The DPRK has sent a 14-athlete contingent to this year’s Games, after skipping the last edition in Tokyo in 2021 due its self-imposed COVID-19 border controls.

But the country only returned to international sports in the second half of last year, and it will be without some of its brightest