North Korea women’s soccer club to make rare South visit

A North Korean women’s soccer club will visit South Korea for a face-off between the rival neighbors, making it the first sports team since 2018 to play on the South’s soil, the Unification Ministry in Seoul said on Monday.

North Korea’s Naegohyang Women’s FC is set to play against the South Korean Suwon FC ​Women ‌on May 20 in the semi-finals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions ⁠League.

What do we know about the rare game?

Pyongyang has sent ​a list of a delegation of 27 players ⁠and ​12 staff ​who would visit ​South Korea ‌for the semi-final ​of ⁠Asia’s top-tier women’s football club competition, ​the ministry said.

It did not give further details on the exact date of the team’s arrival, but the French AFP news agency reported they would arrive on May 17.

The winning club would play the league’s final against either Australia’s Melbourne City or Japan’s Tokyo Verdy Beleza on May 23.

“The losing team in the semi-final will return home on Thursday, May 21, with no third-place playoff scheduled,” the South Korean Unification Ministry said in a press statement.

What is the history of the North-South sports interactions?

The last time North Korean athletes competed in South Korea was in 2018 when shooting, youth football and table tennis delegations traveled there.

The two Koreas had also formed a historic unified ice hockey team at the 2018  Winter Olympics, held in Pyeongchang.

Monday’s development comes as Seoul, under President Lee Jae Myung, seeks to mend a years-long strained relationship with Pyongyang.

The two sides technically remain at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty.

Edited by: Rana Taha