North Korea’s Naegohyang Women Beat Suwon 2-1 in Rare South Korea Match

A North Korean women’s soccer team, Naegohyang Women, arrived in South Korea for its first game on southern soil in eight years and played Suwon in a rare inter-peninsula matchup at Suwon, South Korea.

“SEOUL, South Korea — Rivals”

NBC News

The New York Times said Naegohyang recorded a 2-1 victory at Suwon to reach the AFC Champions League final against Tokyo Verdy Beleza, with second-half goals from Choe Kum-ok and Kim Kyong-yong after Haruhi Suzuki’s 49th-minute opener for Suwon.

NBC News

The match at Suwon, based 40 kilometers south of South Korean capital Seoul, advanced Naegohyang to Saturday’s final at the Suwon Sports Complex.

Before the game, Naegohyang coach Ri Yu-il said his side were “focused only on winning,” as they became the first sports team from the nation to play in South Korea since 2018.

The Washington Post described the North Korean delegation as appearing “wholly indifferent to the weight of the moment” until they won.

Suwon head coach Park Kil-young said his players seemed “too intimidated” by their opponents in the earlier meeting, and he told Yonhap: “I tore into my players in the locker room at half time.”

In the semifinal, Suwon captain Ji So-yun, 35, said her team would not “back down” and vowed: “If they kick us, then we will kick right back in response.”

News18

News18 reported that Suwon coach Park Kil-young admitted his side struggled with the emotional weight of the occasion and said, “Throughout the match, our players and our staff felt hurt.”

News18 also said the rain reduced official attendance to 5,763 after more than 7,000 tickets were sold within hours of going on sale, while civic groups supported by Seoul’s unification ministry cheered for both teams.

The Lufkin Daily News described the backdrop as political tensions and quoted Naegohyang goal-scorer Choi Kum Ok saying, “I trusted our team’s strength.”

Naegohyang Women will remain in Suwon for Saturday’s final at the Suwon Sports Complex, after reaching it by defeating Suwon 2-1 in the semifinal.

“Get behind the headlines North Korea’s Naegohyang Women’s Football Club defeated South Korea’s Suwon FC Women 2-1 in a rare inter-Korean sporting matchup Wednesday to advance to the final of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions League”

NK News

The New York Times said the AFC Women’s Champions League is the top-tier women’s football club competition in Asia and is in its second season having replaced the AFC Women’s Club Championship in 2024.

NBC News framed the event as the first sports team from the isolated, nuclear-armed state to visit the democratic south in nearly eight years, with Ri Yu Il saying, “We came here strictly to play the match.”

NBC News reported that all 7,087 general admission tickets sold out within hours last week and that an estimated 3,000 spectators from civic groups supported by Seoul’s Unification Ministry were expected to cheer for both sides.

The Unification Ministry’s spokesperson Yoon Min Ho told a press briefing that the department “will continue coordinating with the AFC, the Korean Football Association (KFA), and other relevant organizations to help ensure that the tournament proceeds safely and smoothly,” as the ministry added that minister Chung Dongyoung was considering attending the match.