North Korea Appears to Be Cracking Open Its Sealed Border With Dispatch of Sports Delegation

North Korean women wearing track suits with the North Korean flag and the words Taekwon-Do printed on the back walk to Chinese customs after checking in for a flight to Astana at the Capital Airport in Beijing on Aug. 18, 2023. Ng Han Guan/AP Photo

BEIJING—North Korea appears to have cracked open its borders in the first significant way since they were shut at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, with the impoverished nation sending a large group of taekwondo athletes and officials through Beijing to an international competition.

The group of around 80 men and women wearing white track suits with the North Korean flag on the front were in the departure hall of Beijing’s international airport. They reportedly arrived Wednesday or Thursday.