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By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL, April 6 (Reuters) - North Korea's sports ministry said on Tuesday that it will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics this year to protect its athletes amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision was made at a meeting of North Korea's Olympic committee on March 25 including its sports minister Kim Il Guk, the ministry said on its website called Joson Sports.

"The committee decided not to join the 32nd Olympics Games to protect athletes from the global health crisis caused by the coronavirus," it said.

The meeting also discussed ways to develop professional sports technologies, earn medals at international competitions and promote public sports activities over the next five years, the ministry said.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Kim Coghill)