International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates stressed Tuesday that the IOC will remain "politically neutral" toward North Korea's participation at the 2020 Tokyo Games and will not try to force the government to accept non-sporting visitors.
"We are keen to see sport be available to people in North Korea, to assist in the development of sport there, but in all of this the IOC's position is one of political neutrality and will remain that," Coates told reporters in Tokyo at a news conference to mark the end of a two-day IOC visit to inspect preparations for the 2020 Games.
"Under the Olympic charter, there is an obligation on a host government to allow free access to all delegations, athletes and their officials who are accredited for the games. That's not to say, though, that a host government does not have control over who it wants to invite in terms of political leaders."