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The Guardian World1 min read
North Korean women’s club to play rare football match in the South
TL;DR
A North Korean women's football club will play in South Korea for the first time since 2018, facing Suwon FC Women on May 20. This match is part of the Asian Champions League semifinals.
Key points
- North Korean women's football club to play in South Korea
- First sports team from North Korea since 2018
- Match on May 20 in Asian Champions League semifinals
- Visiting team includes 27 players and 12 staff
- Team arrives in South Korea on May 17
Mentioned in this story
South KoreaNorth KoreaBeijingIncheon
Asian Champions LeagueNaegohyang Women’s FCSuwon FC Women
A North Korean women’s football club will become the first sports team from the country to play in South Korea since 2018 when they visit this month, Seoul’s unification ministry has confirmed.
The neighbours remain technically at war after their 1950–53 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, and sporting and cultural exchanges between them are very rare.
Naegohyang Women’s FC will play the South’s Suwon FC Women on May 20 in the semifinals of the Asian Champions League. The winner will face Melbourne City or Tokyo Verdy in the final, also to be played in Suwon, on May 23 .
The visiting delegation will include 27 players and 12 club staff, the ministry said on Monday. South Korea’s football association told AFP news agency that the team would arrive on May 17 .
They will fly into Incheon airport on an Air China flight from Beijing, a unification ministry official said.
The winner of the match at Suwon Sports Complex, south of the capital Seoul, will play the final of Asia’s top women’s club competition against either Australia’s Melbourne City or Japan’s Tokyo Verdy Beleza on May 23 .
“The losing team in the semifinal will return home on Thursday, May 21 , with no third-place playoff scheduled,” the ministry statement added.
The match will be the first time a North Korean sports team has played in the South since shooting, youth football and table tennis delegations travelled there in 2018.
The last time Pyongyang sent a women’s football team to the South was in 2014, when the North Korean national team took part in the Asian Games in Incheon.
Founded in 2012 and based in the North Korean capital, much of Naegohyang’s squad is “made up of national team-level players”, the ministry said.
North Korea’s national team is one of the dominant forces in Asian women’s football, winning multiple international titles in recent years, especially at youth level.
The most recent one came in November last year, when they defeated the Netherlands 3-0 in the final of the U-17 Women’s World Cup.
Q&A
When is the North Korean women's football club match in South Korea?
The match is scheduled for May 20, 2023.
What is the significance of the North Korean women's football club visiting South Korea?
This is the first time a sports team from North Korea has played in South Korea since 2018, highlighting rare sporting exchanges between the two countries.
Who will the winner of the North Korean women's football match face next?
The winner will face either Melbourne City or Tokyo Verdy in the final on May 23, 2023.
