The North Korean women’s football club wants to travel to the South for the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League

A women’s football club became the first sports team from North Korea to visit neighboring South Korea in eight years on Sunday.

The Naegohyang Women’s FC from the isolated and nuclear-armed country will play the Suwon FC Women from the South in the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League three days later.

AFP looks at the journey, politics and logistics.

Politics

The two Koreas technically remain at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice and not a peace treaty.

Cooperation in sports has helped to thaw inter-Korean relations after North Korea sent athletes, cheerleaders and a high-level delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics in the South.

The two Koreas also fielded their first unified Olympic team, a joint women’s ice hockey squad, at the Pyeongchang Games.

Ri Sol Ju, the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, also visited South Korea in 2005 as part of a North Korean cheering squad for the Asian Athletics Championships.

But relations have deteriorated sharply since US-North Korea nuclear talks collapsed in 2019, with Pyongyang repeatedly declaring itself an “irreversible” nuclear state.

The logistics

Naegohyang’s selection will arrive in South Korea by plane from Beijing.

According to South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, a total of 39 people will make the trip, consisting of 27 players and 12 staff members.

They are staying in a hotel in Suwon, a city about 30 kilometers south of Seoul and where Wednesday’s match will take place.

The South Korean Suwon FC team will stay at the same hotel.

The dining rooms and travel routes will be kept separate, according to local reports, making meetings between the two sides unlikely.

The match will take place at the Suwon Sports Complex, which has a capacity of just under 12,000 people.

The law

Under South Korean national security laws, it can be considered illegal to own or wave the North Korean flag, or to play the national anthem in public.

A separate law – the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act – also requires South Koreans to obtain prior permission from the Unification Minister before contacting North Koreans in any way.

A government official said AFP The North Korean players’ visit was pre-approved, meaning it would not be considered illegal for South Koreans to exchange simple greetings with them.

Under Kim Jong Un, “sports are not simply seen as entertainment, but as a measure of national capabilities,” said Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at South Kyungnam University.

Pyongyang is likely aiming to demonstrate what it sees as its «overwhelming superiority» through sporting performance, using it as an opportunity to send a strong message that it is superior to its «enemy state rival,» he said. AFP.

The club

North Korea has traditionally been strong in women’s football, especially at youth level, where it has won several World Cups in recent years.

Naegohyang FC, based in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, is an emerging player in women’s football in the country, according to the South Korean Ministry of Unification.

The club, founded in 2012, won the North Korean top flight in the 2021-2022 season after beating powerhouse April 25 Sports Club.

Naegohyang also defeated Suwon, his opponent on Wednesday, 3-0 in the Champions League group stage in November.

Because the Champions League is a club competition, national flags and anthems are not used during the match.

The fans

North Koreans are generally not allowed in South Korea, so no fans will travel across the border.

However, the visiting team will be able to count on sufficient support.

Seoul’s Ministry of Unification will provide 300 million won ($200,000) to support South Korean civic groups who want to cheer on both teams during the match.

It will include tickets, cheering supplies and banners, a ministry official said, adding that the event could help promote «mutual understanding between the two Koreas.»

According to the Ministry of Unification, approximately 2,500 supporters are expected at the match.

A ministry official said civic groups will “largely decide” what to sing, but the government will issue guidelines given the “special nature” of the event.

“We see it as a rare and meaningful exchange between young South and North Koreans,” said Hong Sang-young, secretary general of the citizen group Korean Sharing Movement. AFP.

“Political slogans or messages can lead to misunderstandings, so we plan to focus on football itself and supporting young people from both Koreas who share the same space.”

Published on May 14, 2026