The decision, confirmed to insidethegames by global sports authorities and in person by North Korean team officials at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, is effective immediately.

In sport, North Korea is doing all it can to avoid isolation.

Its Sports Minister, Kim Il-guk, has been in Hangzhou for meetings with senior International Federation officials during the Asian Games, which end today,

The most important meeting was with Mohammed Jalood, President of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). 

Weightlifting, North Korea's number one sport in terms of international achievement, has far stricter anti-doping rules than others.

After a decision taken by the IWF Executive Board in June, nations that block the entry of independent foreign testers become ineligible for IWF competitions.

"We must ensure that our athletes can participate," said Songnam Jang, manager of the North Korea team that finished top of the weightlifting medals table in Hangzhou.

The North Korean Sports Ministry has written to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which said: "DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] has now made provision for international testing authorities to be allowed entry into the DPRK for the purposes of sample collection."

The North Korean authorities confirmed to WADA that they would "provide the foreign Doping Control Officers with the best possible convenience".

"They can come, any time, we are open," said Jang.

"Some countries misunderstand our anti-doping controls, it is an unfortunate situation," he added.

"Our athletes are tested by our NADO [National Anti-Doping Agency]. 

"The testers arrive at any time, the athletes are tested without warning several times, blood and urine.

"Now they [testers from other countries] can come. If CHINADA (the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency) wants to come, if WADA wants to send people, we are open to them."

WADA confirmed that North Korea’s NADO "has been conducting testing, including on weightlifters, and sending the samples to a WADA-accredited laboratory outside the country for analysis".

A complication is that North Korea’s NADO is deemed "non-compliant" by WADA because of "non-conformities in implementing an effective testing programme".

Carrying out regular tests on its own athletes is one way to help overcome the "non-compliant" status, said a WADA spokesman.

A WADA statement said: "The broader political status of the country means verification and quality control activities are not straightforward.

"WADA will continue to work with the NADO to strengthen the anti-doping system in DPRK in order to protect all athletes."

Once the practicalities have been dealt with, North Korea will operate, for the first time, under the same anti-doping regime as other countries.

Its failure to do so in the past has led to strong claims of unfairness by, among others, the IWF Hall of Fame coach Paul Coffa from Australia, the Canadian Olympic champion Maude Charron, and Matt Sicchio, chief executive of USA Weightlifting.

The change will mean regular "unannounced out-of-competition testing" of its elite athletes by foreign independent testers, the International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed.

The ITA carries out anti-doping procedures for several sports including weightlifting. 

North Korea has won more Olympic medals in weightlifting, including five golds, than in any other sport.

In Hangzhou China’s head women’s coach Wang Guoxin said North Korea had overtaken China as the world’s number one team, after they won four gold medals and set six world records within three days of their return from a four-year absence.

Because of that absence, North Korea cannot qualify for Paris 2024, the IWF has stated.

Its decision to "open up" to foreign testers makes no difference to its ineligibility for Paris, but it will ensure North Korea’s long-term presence in international weightlifting.

If the North Koreans had made a decision earlier they could have been eligible for Paris. 

They wanted to compete at the 2023 IWF World Championships in Saudi Arabia last month, a mandatory qualifier, but did not agree to let the foreign testers in by the deadline for eligibility. 

The North Koreans opened up in another way when, for the first time, the weightlifting team's head coach agreed to talk about the sport in her homeland.

Kim Chun Hui, who has been head coach for 10 years and is general secretary of the National Federation, said the team would go home to "prepare for future competitions", the first of which will be the IWF Grand Prix in Qatar in December. 

North Korea has entered a strong team at the preliminary stage.

Kim also said the team intended to compete at the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan in February, by when another new IWF anti-doping rule will have taken effect.

By categorising nations based on risk of doping violations from November 1, the IWF will ensure that all teams who enter World Championships at junior and senior level, or the Olympic Games, will undergo even stricter out-of-competition testing.

"This decision by PRK has happened because the IWF board approved an anti-doping policy that is stronger than any other Olympic sport," said Jalood.

"If all goes well, welcome PRK. 

"If all goes smoothly, and PRK athletes undergo tests, they can compete in the Asian Championships in February."

The ITA said it would start work next week on devising a strategy for sending testers to North Korea.