INCHEON, South Korea (Kashmir English): A North Korean women’s football team landed in its southern neighbour on Sunday, marking the first visit by a sports team from the isolated country to South Korea in eight years.
The team will play in the Asian Champions League semi-finals. Naegohyang Women’s FC — which means “My Hometown” in Korean — emerged from South Korea’s Incheon International Airport near Seoul surrounded by a large number of media-men and supporters holding welcome banners.
Dressed in identical dark jackets and skirts and carrying wheeling pink suitcases, a total of 39 North Korean players and staff arrived at the airport who were greeted by dozens of people from South Korean civic groups.
“We welcome you!” they said as the players walked past along a cordoned-off strip under heavy security presence.
The players immediately boarded a bus, which left the airport under police escort.
“I came here today to welcome the Naegohyang team players, who are visiting South Korea for the first time in eight years,” civic group member Choi Young-ok said.
However, she was not hopeful of improving relations between the two Koreas.
“While I do hope it will help, I don’t think this match alone will solve anything significant unless the fundamental issues between the two sides are addressed,” she said, without elaborating.
Match between two Koreas
“A sports match is just a sports match,” she added.
Naegohyang Women’s FC, based in Pyongyang, will face Suwon FC Women in the semi-finals of the Women’s Asian Champions League on Wednesday.
Founded in 2012, the club won North Korea’s top-flight title in the 2021-22 season and defeated Suwon 3-0 during the tournament’s group stage last year.
The North Korean squad arrived via Beijing on an Air China commercial flight and will stay at a hotel in Suwon, south of the capital Seoul.
According to local reports, the North and South Korean teams would stay at the same hotel but use separate dining areas and travel routes, limiting direct interaction.
More than 7,000 tickets were sold out within hours, indicating an immense interest in the match. The game will be at Suwon Sports Complex, which has a capacity of just under 12,000.
North Korea are ranked 11th in the FIFA women’s rankings, far ahead of their men’s team, who are 118th.
