Japan will allow North Korean female soccer players to enter the country to take part in the East Asian Women's Football Championship next month in Tokyo, making them an exception from sanctions on Pyongyang, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Tuesday.

"We have agreed (to the entry) because it will be for a sport," Hirano said.

Justice Minister Keiko Chiba said that while North Korean government officials will continue to be denied entry into Japan under the sanctions, other people's entries can be allowed by conducting proper immigration checks.