On the same field, but still opposed: a North Korean women’s football team will play in South Korea on May 20 against a local club for the North’s first sports visit to the country since 2018, Seoul announced on Monday.
The two neighbors remain technically at war, their conflict resolved in 1953 by an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
According to the South Korean Unification Ministry, responsible for relations with Pyongyang, North Korean authorities have sent a “notification regarding a delegation of 39 people” from the Naegohyang women’s club, which will compete against the South Korean team of Suwon in the Asian Champions League semi-final, the region’s main tournament.
The ministry did not specify the team’s arrival date, which will consist of 27 players and 12 club members.
The winner will face either the Australian Melbourne City team or the Japanese Tokyo Verdy Beleza team in the final on May 23, still in South Korea.
“The team that loses the semi-final will return home on May 21, with no third-place match scheduled,” the ministry stated in a press release.
This match is set to mark the first sports visit of a North Korean 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 dates back to 2014 when the national team participated in the Asian Games in Incheon.
The Naegohyang team, based in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, consists of “nationally skilled players,” the ministry added.
North Korean national teams are among the most successful on the continent, with several international trophies in recent years, largely celebrated by state propaganda.
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 are also reigning champions.
The senior team ranks 11th in the world, just behind Japan in Asia.
– Decisive pass? –
This sports meeting comes as Seoul tries to warm relations with its neighbor.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has been calling to reinitiate dialogues and seeks talks with the North without preconditions.
Lee, who took over from the hardline conservative Yoon Suk Yeol in 2025, believes that the two countries will one day “make the flowers of peace blossom.”
Such a gesture has been rejected for now by Pyongyang, which insists that Seoul remains its “most hostile enemy.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has labeled South Korean conciliatory initiatives as “deceptive,” is looking to strengthen his country’s nuclear arsenal, already equipped with atomic bombs.
The North has also increased its military tests, with four in April, the highest number in a month in two years, involving sanctioned weapons.
Pyongyang is also expanding its ties with Russia, providing assistance in the invasion of Ukraine and receiving economic and technical aid in return.
