North Korea says the International Olympic Committee will send an official delegate to a martial arts competition opening in the North next month.

The North’s official KCNA news agency said that IOC President Jacques Rogge recently sent a letter to inform IOC member Jang Woong, who chairs the competition's organizing committee.

In last year's inaugural games in Pyongyang, nine hundred participants from 40 countries competed in events like the Korean traditional sport of taekwondo, karate of Japan, Korean wrestling "ssireum" and Korean chess "baduk."

This year's contest runs from August 22nd to the 29th in the North Korean capital.