North Korea’s Naegohyang Women’s FC will visit South Korea on May 17 for a rare football match against Suwon FC Women, marking the first time in eight years that a North Korean sports team has competed on South Korean soil.
The two teams will face off on May 20 in the semi-finals of the AFC Women’s Champions League at the Suwon Sports Complex, with the winner advancing to the final against either Melbourne City of Australia or Japan’s Tokyo Verdy Beleza. The losing team will head home immediately after the match, as no third-place playoff is scheduled.
The North Korean delegation, comprising 27 players and 12 staff, will arrive at Incheon International Airport on May 17 via Air China. This marks a major diplomatic breakthrough in inter-Korean relations, following years of tension.
The last time North Korean athletes participated in South Korea was in 2018, when delegations from Pyongyang participated in shooting, youth football, and table tennis events. North Korea’s last visit to the South for a football match occurred in 2014 at the Asian Games in Incheon.
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The visit comes amid South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s efforts to renew engagement with Pyongyang. Lee, who has adopted a “peace-first” approach to inter-Korean relations, sees the match as a step toward peaceful coexistence.
