The Japanese government on Tuesday rushed to gather information about the announcement by North Korea that it will skip this summer's Tokyo Olympics in order to protect its athletes from the novel coronavirus.
Olympic minister Tamayo Marukawa told reporters that the government is trying to "confirm the details" of the online statement that North Korea's Olympic committee decided not to attend the Tokyo Games during its session last month.
North Korea became the first country to announce that it would not participate in the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to open on July 23 following a one-year postponement due to the global health crisis.