North Korea's powerhouse women footballers are in Seoul to fight for title

Pounding rainfall and beardown winds did not halt much than 5,000 spectators from turning up astatine a shot stadium successful Suwon, conscionable southbound of Seoul, connected Wednesday night.

Wrapped successful raincoats, they cheered and booed, their screams sweeping crossed the stands arsenic a uncommon lucifer unfolded connected the pitch: North Korea vs South Korea.

But determination was thing much unusual. Hundreds of South Koreans appeared to beryllium cheering with large cries of "Naegohyang", the sanction of the visiting North Korean club. They had been brought unneurotic by section NGOs who did wanted them to cheer some sides.

The North Koreans' information was initially met with scepticism: the narration betwixt the 2 sides has soured successful caller years arsenic Kim Jong Un tested a grounds fig of ballistic missiles and continued pursuing atomic ambitions. In 2023, helium formally abandoned Pyongyang's long-standing extremity of reunification with the South and has since designated it a "hostile state".

But the squad arrived arsenic expected, the archetypal athletes to question southbound of the borderline since 2018 - and the Naegohyang Women's Football Club marked the instrumentality with a triumph successful the semi-final of the Asian Women's Champions League.

For shot fans and those who person followed North Korea's record, the effect did not travel arsenic a surprise.

North Korea has agelong held a beardown estimation successful women's football. It stands 11th successful Fifa rankings, the second-highest ranked Asian broadside aft Japan.

Founded successful Pyongyang successful 2012, Naegohyang won the North Korean league rubric successful 2022. The squad includes respective players from the nationalist squad and is presently managed by a erstwhile caput manager of the women's nationalist team.

"North Korea is highly focused connected discovering and grooming young shot talent," said Kim Yong-hyun, a prof of North Korean Studies astatine Dongguk University successful Seoul.

Kim Jong Un, who similar his begetter is known for his beardown involvement successful sports, pledged to crook North Korea into a "sporting powerhouse" soon aft taking powerfulness successful 2011.

The Pyongyang International Football School, built successful 2013 connected Rungna Island successful the capital, is regarded arsenic a cradle for elite shot players, grooming promising younker from crossed the country.

"Even successful the 1990s, erstwhile I was grooming successful North Korea, determination was already a well-established strategy successful schools to nurture young diversion talent," said Kim Sang-yoon, a erstwhile North Korean nationalist boxer who defected successful the 2000s.

"At elite sports schools, talented students were usually selected and trained from simple oregon mediate school."

The reclusive dictatorship's footballing occurrence often stands retired fixed its system has been deed hard by Western sanctions implicit its atomic programme, which takes up a ample information of its nationalist budget.

Although the families powering the authorities pb affluent lives, North Korea is inactive 1 of the poorest countries successful the world. The mean idiosyncratic struggles to gain overmuch successful a state-controlled economy, and leaving for a amended beingness elsewhere is simply a unsafe choice. If caught, they could extremity up successful situation oregon a labour camp.

And yet the top-down accent connected women's shot has paid off, analysts say, adjacent serving arsenic propaganda for a authorities that is ever looking for wins connected the satellite stage.

For the athletes, occurrence offers a uncommon accidental to amended their societal status.

In immoderate cases, prima athletes person reportedly been rewarded with luxury cars, apartments and adjacent rank successful the ruling Workers' Party. The past is simply a immense boost successful presumption successful North Korea's profoundly hierarchical society.

The women's occurrence has besides brought them a batch of nationalist attraction successful the country, making the crippled precise popular, said North Korean defector and erstwhile jock Han Seol-song.

North Korean women's shot has already built an awesome record, including victories astatine the 2024 Fifa U-20 Women's World Cup, the 2025 Fifa U-17 Women's World Cup and the 2026 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup: achievements that acold outshine those of the men's side.

"The biggest weakness of North Korean antheral athletes is their smaller physique," said Heo Jeong-pil, who studies North Korean sports.

"To vie with Western athletes successful presumption of carnal condition, they would request broad management, including a meat-heavy fare and capable nutrition, but successful astir cases that is not possible."

North Korean women, connected the different hand, "are precise pugnacious and resilient", Han said, reflecting a widely-held cognition of them arsenic hardworking and resourceful breadwinners successful a state wherever mundane beingness tin beryllium incredibly hard.

He added, cautiously, that helium did not privation to dependable "sexist" but helium believed North Korean pistillate athletes had a amended accidental of achieving beardown planetary results than men due to the fact that women's sports leagues person not ever been arsenic competitory globally - particularly astatine the clip erstwhile Pyongyang decided to absorption connected processing the sport.

Some observers judge this goes backmost to the precocious 1980s erstwhile Fifa agreed to commencement a World Cup for women. "Maybe idiosyncratic came to Kim Jong-il and said to him that we could usage this," Brigitte Weich, a filmmaker who followed the North Korean squad for 5 years to marque a documentary, told BBC Sport successful 2024.

"North Korea is not the champion successful economics, science, quality rights and the rest, but successful countries similar this they tin beryllium bully astatine immoderate sports because, from the apical down, they tin absorption connected grooming and thing else."

It's intolerable to cognize what mean North Koreans marque of this week's win, oregon however galore of them were adjacent capable to ticker Wednesday's lucifer fixed they person constricted entree to the net oregon media.

But South Koreans volition beryllium watching - and connected Saturday again, determination volition beryllium a cheering squad, courtesy the Unification Ministry, though their determination to money it has drawn immoderate criticism.

Beyond the pitch, determination are those who stay hopeful that sports could assistance rebuild spot and unfastened the doorway to amended relations betwixt the 2 Koreas.

Choi Jong-dae, who was astatine Wednesday's match, is 1 of them. The 91-year-old was separated from his parent and 4 siblings during the Korean War. He was 16 erstwhile helium ended up southbound of the borderline and helium ne'er saw his household again.

"I consciousness similar these North Korean players are similar my granddaughters," helium said. "Who knows? One of them mightiness beryllium the girl of 1 of my siblings oregon relatives. I anticipation they bash well."