North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC Arrives in South Korea for First Visit in 8 Years as Part of North Korean Delegation

[Financial News] A North Korean sports delegation arrived in South Korea for the first time in eight years, following the breakdown in inter-Korean communication. The North Korean women's football club Naegohyang Women's FC entered the country through Incheon International Airport on the 17th.
According to the Ministry of Unification (MOU), Naegohyang Women's FC consists of 39 people, including 27 players and 12 staff members. The team came to South Korea to compete in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Champions League (AWCL), with all matches scheduled to be held at Suwon Sports Complex from the 20th to the 23rd.
It is the first time in eight years that North Korean athletes have visited South Korea to compete since the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Grand Finals in December 2018. In women's football alone, it is the first such visit in 12 years since the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
Naegohyang Women's FC left Pyongyang on the 12th aboard an Air Koryo flight, arrived in Beijing, trained near the North Korean embassy, and then entered South Korea on an Air China flight later that day.
Naegohyang Women's FC will face Suwon FC Women in the semifinal at Suwon Sports Complex on the 20th. If the North Korean side wins, it will meet the winner of the other semifinal between Melbourne City Football Club and Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza in the final on the 23rd. The winner of the tournament will receive $1 million, or about 1.47 billion won. The runner-up will receive $500,000.
The North Korean team finished the group stage in Group C with two wins and one loss. It beat South Korea and Vietnam, but lost 4-0 to Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza. In the Group C round-robin, Suwon FC Women had previously lost 3-0 to Naegohyang Women's FC.
More than 200 civic groups, including the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation and the Council of Civil Organizations for Inter-Korean Cooperation, will cheer at the match between the two women's football clubs. Given that this is a club competition, the groups plan not to use either country's official name. However, if country names are needed outside the match itself, they will be written as North Korea or Joseon. The Ministry of Unification has decided to provide a total of 300 million won from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to support the civilian cheering squad.
An MOU official said, "There were requests from the groups, so we decided to provide funding through the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund." The official added, "We will support basic items such as tickets and cheering equipment."
Naegohyang Women's FC was founded in 2012 and is based in Pyongyang. It is a corporate sports team sponsored by the consumer goods company Naegohyang. North Korea's women's football team is ranked 11th in the FIFA world rankings and second in Asia, behind Japan. As of April this year, the FIFA rankings placed Japan 8th, North Korea 11th, Australia 15th, China 17th and South Korea 21st.
\r\r \r
rainman@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-soo Reporter