North Korea has agreed to open up to foreign visitors from anti-doping agencies to protect its sporting future, three months after the country was said by the United Nations to be “more isolated from the global community than ever before”.
The decision, confirmed to insidethegames by global sports authorities and in person by North Korean team officials at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, is effective immediately.
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The most important meeting was with Mohammed Jalood, President of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).
Weightlifting, North Korea’s number one sport in terms of international achievement, has far stricter anti-doping rules than others.
After a decision taken by the IWF Executive Board in June, nations that block the entry of independent foreign testers become ineligible for IWF competitions.
“We must ensure that our athletes can participate,” said Songnam Jang, manager of the North Korea team that finished top of the weightlifting medals table in Hangzhou.
The North Korean Sports Ministry has written to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which said: “DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] has now made provision for international testing authorities to be allowed entry into the DPRK for the purposes of sample collection.”
North Korea has taken the decision to allow foreign anti-doping officials into the country following a motion from the IWF that would make it ineligible for them to compete ©Getty Images
North Korea has taken the decision to allow foreign anti-doping officials into the country following a motion from the IWF that would make it ineligible for them to compete ©Getty Images
The North Korean authorities confirmed to WADA that they would “provide the foreign Doping Control Officers with the best possible convenience”.
“They can come, any time, we are open,” said Jang.
“Some countries misunderstand our anti-doping controls, it is an unfortunate situation,” he added.
"Our athletes are tested by our NADO [National Anti-Doping Agency].
"The testers arrive at any time, the athletes are tested without warning several times, blood and urine.
“Now they [testers from other countries] can come. If CHINADA (the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency) wants to come, if WADA wants to send people, we are open to them.”
WADA confirmed that North Korea’s NADO “has been conducting testing, including on weightlifters, and sending the samples to a WADA-accredited laboratory outside the country for analysis”.
A complication is that North Korea’s NADO is deemed “non-compliant” by WADA because of “non-conformities in implementing an effective testing programme”.
Carrying out regular tests on its own athletes is one way to help overcome the “non-compliant” status, said a WADA spokesman.
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Once the practicalities have been dealt with, North Korea will operate, for the first time, under the same anti-doping regime as other countries.
Its failure to do so in the past has led to strong claims of unfairness by, among others, the IWF Hall of Fame coach Paul Coffa from Australia, the Canadian Olympic champion Maude Charron, and Matt Sicchio, chief executive of USA Weightlifting.
The change will mean regular “unannounced out-of-competition testing” of its elite athletes by foreign independent testers, the International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed.
The ITA carries out anti-doping procedures for several sports including weightlifting.
North Korea has won more Olympic medals in weightlifting, including five golds, than in any other sport.
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Because of that absence, North Korea cannot qualify for Paris 2024, the IWF has stated.