North Korean athletes competing at the upcoming Rio de Janeiro Olympics arrived in the Brazilian city Thursday.

The main contingent of the delegation left Pyongyang on Tuesday and stopped over in Paris before landing in the host city of the Aug. 5-21 Summer Olympics.

About 50 members of the delegation arrived at Galeao International Airport at round 8:30 a.m. and were greeted by Yun Yong-bok, the country's senior sports official who told Yonhap News Agency that he'd arrived in Rio last Saturday.

Yun was the chief North Korean representative in talks over a joint Korean march at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Athens Summer Games, and served on the North's Olympic committee during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also traveled with North Korea to the 2014 Asian Games in the South Korean city of Incheon.

Before meeting his athletes at the airport, Yun confidently predicted that North Korea would exceed expectations.

"We didn't come all the way here to win a meager five gold medals," said Yun, who declined to talk about his current role in North Korean sports.

Yun also didn't discuss the country's specific objective in Rio, saying it was "classified," but bristled at foreign media's prediction of two to three gold medals.

"You have to play the game," he said. "It's too early to tell."

North Korea will compete in nine of 28 sports, and according to "Info 2016," the official source of information for the Rio Games, the North will have 31 athletes and four officials.

The list includes weightlifter Om Yun-chol, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the men's 56kg, and artistic gymnast Ri Se-gwang, the two-time world champion in men's vault.

At the 2012 Olympics in London, North Korea grabbed four gold medals -- three from weightlifting -- and two bronze medals to finish 20th in the standings.

Yun said North Korea will also excel at diving this year, with Kim Kuk-hyang having won the 2015 world championship in 10m platform.

Yun said the North's leader Kim Jong-un takes "a great interest in sports," and added, "His support and words of encouragement do so much more to motivate our athletes than any amount of money can."

"In the South, gold medalists receive money," Yun said. "We reward them with a big house in Pyongyang and a car."

The North Korean delegation will be headed by Yun Song-bom, who served in the same capacity at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games and the 2000 Sydney Summer Games. (Yonhap)