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05/03 23:31 CDT A North Korean women's soccer team is set to play in a
tournament in South Korea
A North Korean women's soccer team is set to play in a tournament in South Korea
By KIM TONG-HYUNG
Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) --- A North Korean women's soccer team is scheduled to
play at a regional tournament in South Korea later this month, in a rare sports
exchange between the war-divided rivals.
The South's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said in a
statement Monday that the Pyongyang-based Naegohyang Women's FC is expected to
face Suwon FC Women on May 20 in the semifinals of the Asian Football
Confederation Women's Champions League in Suwon, south of Seoul.
The Korea Football Association, South Korea's soccer body, said the AFC
notified it that the North Korean team submitted a list of players and staff
set to come to Suwon. The KFA said North Korea would be fined by the AFC if the
team failed to compete in the semifinals.
North Korea's state media has not reported on the soccer club's expected trip.
North Korea last sent athletes to South Korea in December 2018 for a table
tennis event, continuing a period of diplomatic engagement highlighted by the
participation of North Korean athletes alongside a high-level delegation at the
Winter Olympics in the South earlier that year. North Korea also sent its
national women's soccer team to the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, which was the
last time its female soccer players competed in the South.
Naegohyang Women's FC defeated Suwon FC Women 3-0 in the group stage in Myanmar
last year, before beating a Vietnamese club in the quarterfinals. The winners
of the May 20 semifinals will meet in the final three days later in Suwon, with
Melbourne City FC and Tokyo Verdy Beleza facing off in the other semifinal.
While athletes from North and South Korea have previously competed on combined
teams and marched together in Olympic ceremonies during periods of warmer
relations, sports exchanges have since faded as relations deteriorated, with no
inter-Korean activities for years.
North Korea has shunned talks with South Korea and the U.S. since Kim's broader
nuclear diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019 over
disagreements on U.S.-led sanctions on the North.
Tensions have been rising lately as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ramps up
his nuclear and missile program targeting Asian U.S. allies and the U.S.
mainland and hardens his stance toward South Korea. Kim has labeled South Korea
as his most hostile adversary and has shown sensitivity to South Korean soft
power, pushing aggressively to block the influence of South Korean culture and
language among his population.
