SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea’s women’s soccer team is scheduled to compete in a regional tournament in South Korea later this month, marking a rare sporting exchange between rivals separated by war.
South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, which is in charge of inter-Korean affairs, announced in a statement on Monday that Pyongyang-based Naegohyang Women’s FC is scheduled to play Suwon FC Women in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League on May 20 in Suwon, south of Seoul.
South Korea’s soccer organization, the Korea Football Association, announced that the AFC had notified that the North Korean team had submitted a list of players and staff scheduled to come to Suwon. KFA announced that if North Korea fails to advance to the semi-finals, they will be fined by AFC.
North Korea’s state media has not reported on the soccer club’s planned trip.
The last time North Korea sent a team to South Korea was for a table tennis tournament in December 2018, and diplomatic engagement continued, with North Korean athletes participating along with a high-level delegation at the Winter Olympics held in South Korea earlier that year. North Korea also sent a national women’s soccer team to the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, which was the last time female soccer players competed in South Korea.
North Korea’s women’s team has enjoyed success in international youth competitions recently, winning the previous Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups.
In the continental club tournament, Negohyang Women’s FC defeated Suwon FC Women 3-0 in the group stage in Myanmar last November, and defeated the Vietnamese club in the quarterfinals in March. The winners of the May 20 semi-final will meet in the final in Suwon three days later, with Melbourne City FC and Tokyo Verdy Beleza facing off in the other semi-final.
In the past, when inter-Korean relations were good, North and South Korean athletes competed in joint teams and even marched together at Olympic ceremonies. sports exchange After that, relations deteriorated and activities between the two Koreas ceased to exist for many years.
North Korea has avoided talks with South Korea and the United States since the sweeping policies of leader Kim Jong Un. nuclear diplomacy Relations with US President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019 over disagreements over US-led sanctions against North Korea.
Tensions have been rising lately because of Kim. Strengthen nuclear and missile programs Targeting U.S. allies in Asia and the U.S. mainland, His attitude toward South Korea hardened. Mr. Kim has called South Korea his most hostile enemy, expressed sensitivity to South Korea’s soft power, and actively pushed to prevent the influence of South Korean culture and language among his people.
