North Korean women’s club to visit South Korea for first time in eight years

SEOUL: A North Korean sports team is set to enter South Korea for the first time in eight years, with Naegohyang Women’s FC due to arrive on Sunday ahead of an Asian Champions League semi-final.

The club from Pyongyang will face South Korea’s Suwon FC Women on Wednesday in Suwon, in what will be a rare inter-Korean sporting exchange at a time of strained relations between the two sides.

Rare cross-border sports visit

The two Koreas are still technically at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Sports exchanges previously played a role in easing tensions, including during the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, when North Korea sent athletes, cheerleaders and a senior delegation.

At those Games in Pyeongchang, the two sides also formed their first unified Olympic team, a joint women’s ice hockey squad. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s wife, Ri Sol Ju, had also travelled to South Korea in 2005 as part of a North Korean cheering group for the Asian Athletics Championships.

Relations, however, have worsened sharply since talks between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme broke down in 2019. North Korea has since repeatedly described itself as an irreversible nuclear state.

Travel and match arrangements

According to South Korea’s unification ministry, the North Korean delegation will travel by air from Beijing. The group will consist of 39 people, including 27 players and 12 staff members.

They will stay at a hotel in Suwon, around 30 kilometres south of Seoul, where the semi-final will be played. Suwon FC Women will also stay at the same hotel, although local reports said the two teams are expected to use separate dining areas and travel routes, making direct contact unlikely.

The match will be held at Suwon Sports Complex, which can accommodate just under 12,000 spectators. Naegohyang had already beaten Suwon 3-0 in the Champions League group stage in November.

Legal and political sensitivities

Under South Korean national security laws, publicly possessing or displaying the North Korean flag or playing its national anthem can be considered illegal. Another law, the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act, requires South Koreans to obtain prior approval from the unification minister before making contact with North Koreans by any means.

A South Korean government official told AFP that the North Korean team’s visit had been approved in advance, meaning South Koreans would not be breaking the law by exchanging simple greetings with the players.

Because the fixture is part of a club competition, national flags and national anthems will not be used during the match.

Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University in South Korea, told AFP that under Kim Jong Un, sports are viewed not simply as entertainment, but as a measure of national capability.

Pyongyang is likely aiming to showcase what it sees as its 'overwhelming superiority' through sporting performance, using it as an opportunity to send a strong message that it is superior to its 'hostile state' rival

Club profile and fan support

North Korea has long been strong in women’s football, particularly at youth level, where its teams have won multiple World Cups in recent years. South Korea’s unification ministry described Naegohyang as an emerging force in the domestic women’s game.

Founded in 2012, the club won North Korea’s top division in the 2021-22 season after defeating April 25 Sports Club.

No North Korean supporters are expected to cross the border, as North Koreans are generally not permitted to travel to the South. However, the visiting side is expected to receive backing from South Korean civic groups.

South Korea’s unification ministry will provide 300 million won ($200,000) to support civic groups planning to cheer both teams, a ministry official said. The funding will cover tickets, cheering materials and banners, and the official said the event could help promote mutual understanding between the two Koreas.

The unification ministry expects about 2,500 supporters at the game. A ministry official said civic groups would largely be left to decide for themselves what they chant, although the government would issue guidelines because of the special nature of the event.

We see it as a rare and meaningful exchange between young South and North Koreans

Hong Sang-young, secretary general of the civic group Korean Sharing Movement, told AFP:

Political slogans or messages could cause misunderstandings, so we intend to focus on football itself and on supporting young people from both Koreas sharing the same space.