North Korean Women’s Football Team to Face South Korean Team in Asian Champions League Semi-Finals

The North Korean women’s football team will face off against the South Korean team from Suwon in the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League, the premier tournament in the region. The ministry did not specify the arrival date of the team, which will consist of 27 players and 12 club members. The winner will face either Melbourne City from Australia or Tokyo Verdy Beleza from Japan in the final, also in South Korea, on May 23. “The team that loses in the semi-final will return home on May 21, with no match for third place planned,” the ministry clarified in a press release.

First Visit Since 2018

This match will mark the first visit of a North Korean sports team to the South since 2018 when junior football, shooting, and table tennis delegations made the trip. The last visit of a North Korean women’s football team was in 2014 during the Asian Games in Incheon. The Naegohyang team, based in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, is made up of “national level players,” the ministry added.

North Korean national teams are among the most successful in the continent. Last November, the U-17 team retained their crown at the FIFA Women’s World Cup by defeating the Netherlands 3-0. The U-20 team is also the defending champion, and the senior team ranks 11th in the nation’s rankings. This sporting event comes at a time when Seoul is attempting to improve relations with its neighbor.

Aiming to “Bloom the Flowers of Peace”

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has been calling for dialogue and talks with the North without preconditions. Lee Jae Myung, who replaced the hardline conservative Yoon Suk Yeol in 2025, has stated that the two countries will one day “bloom the flowers of peace.” This gesture has been rejected so far by Pyongyang, which insists that Seoul remains its “most hostile enemy.”