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 โWomen โon May 20 in the semi-finals of theย Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions โ League.
What do we know about the rare game?
Pyongyang hasย sent โa list of a delegation of 27 players โ and โ12 staff โwho would visit โSouth Korea โfor the semi-final โof โ Asia’s top-tier women’s football club competition, โthe 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 wasย 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 2018ย Winter Olympics, held in Pyeongchang.
Monday’s development comes as Seoul, under Presidentย 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