North Korean weightlifters pose for a group photo after winning medals at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Oct. 5. Yonhap

North Korea has registered 16 athletes to compete in an international weightlifting competition set to take place in Doha next month, according to the weightlifting governing body Sunday.

Among the North Korean athletes included in the preliminary entries for the Grand Prix II, to be held in Doha from Dec. 4-14, are six gold medalists who won in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, according to the roster the North has submitted to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

The North, which returned to international sports competitions following years of a COVID-19 border shutdown, scooped up six gold, five silver and two bronze medals at the Asian Games held in September and October.

If the North shows up for the upcoming competition in Doha, it would mark its first return to an IWF event since the 2019 world championships in Pattaya, Thailand.

Despite submitting preliminary entries, the North skipped the IWF Grand Prix I in Havana, Cuba, in June and the world championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in September.

In 2021, the International Olympic Committee suspended North Korea until the end of 2022 for its decision to skip the Tokyo Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ban has been lifted, but the North's weightlifting team cannot compete in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris as it skipped key qualifying events, including the competition in Riyadh. (Yonhap)

（作者：新闻中心）