North Korea, once a weightlifting powerhouse that threatened China, is returning to the international stage for the first time in four years at the Hangzhou Asian Games .In the four years that have passed, the North Korean weightlifting team appears to have undergone a “generational change. The names of “Olympic gold medalists” familiar to South Korean weightlifting fans, such as Lim Jung Shim (30) and Uhm Yun Chol (31), are not on the roster (14) for the Asian Games .Eight of the 14 will be making their international debuts in Hangzhou, so there are plenty of new faces. However, Lim’s younger sister Lim Eun-sim, 27, will be going for her second consecutive Asian Games gold medal in Hangzhou .At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang, the elder Lim topped the women’s 75-kilogram category, while Lim won gold in the 69-kilogram category .It was the first time the sisters had ever competed together in an adult international competition and won their first Asian Games gold medals .Lim is a weightlifting hero in North Korea .She won the women’s 69-kilogram weightlifting title at the 2012 London Olympics and topped the 75-kilogram category at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. At the 2019 World Championships in Pattaya, she won gold in the 76-kilogram category. After making her international debut at the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, Lim catapulted to global prominence with a second-place finish in the 64kg category at the 2019 World Championships in Pattaya .However, since the 2019 World Championships in Pattaya, North Korean weightlifting has been absent from major international competitions .North Korea was punished by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for missing the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021, citing the need to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country. The suspension automatically ended on December 31, 2022.North Korean weightlifting did not compete at the recently concluded 2023 World Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. North Korean weightlifters will not be able to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris due to the country’s repeated absences from international events where Olympic ranking points are at stake. The Hangzhou Asian Games will be the first chance to see the ‘current situation’ of North Korea’s weightlifting program after nearly four years of absence. Lim Eun-sim, who was “the youngest member of the weightlifting powerhouse’s national team” four years ago, will lead the team at the Games .An official from the Asian Weightlifting Federation told Yonhap, “There’s no way to confirm exactly, but I’ve heard that Lim has effectively retired and is living as a coach. North Korea’s weightlifting program considers her a signature of the Asian Games. “Lim will compete in the women’s 64-kilogram weightlifting event on Oct. 2. South Korea’s Han Jian (Daejeon Sports Federation) will also 토토사이트 compete in the event.