TOKYO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Kim Il-guk, sports minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday to attend an Olympic meeting scheduled later this week.

The DPRK minister of physical culture and sports was allowed into Japan as an "exceptional case in the spirit of international sport," Japan's top government spokesman Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference.

As part of its unilateral sanctions against the DPRK, Japan has in principle banned DPRK citizens from entering the country.

Kim is scheduled to attend a two-day general assembly meeting of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) that will kick off Wednesday.

Some 1,300 officials from around the world, including Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will attend the meeting.