North Korea has sent a smaller-than-usual delegation to China for the ninth Asian Winter Games in Harbin, set to begin Friday.

According to the regime’s state-run Korean Central News Agency on Thursday, an Olympic committee delegation led by committee president Kim Il-guk departed from Pyongyang on Wednesday.

According to the website of the event’s organizing committee, three North Koreans, all figure skaters, are on the list of athletes who will compete in the games, which will run through February 14.
 
The figure is far smaller than in past years. 

In 2007 the North sent 66 athletes to the Asian Winter Games, and in 2011 it sent 32 athletes.

For the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, the reclusive state sent just seven athletes, all of whom competed in the figure skating and short track events.