Pyongyang’s Naegohyang Women’s Football Club have arrived for the country’s first sporting excursion to the South in almost 8 years, and they met the South’s Suwon FC Women in an emotional Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League semi final.
Played in torrents, the North Koreans were victorious in the clash at Suwon Sports Complex, 2-1, and despite the competitive nature, the story was one of poignant and emotional symbolism of a sporting fixture and exchange.
The game between the teams ended in a narrow 2-1 victory for Naegohyang, but for spectators it was far from the matter of the scoreline, as no North Korean supporters had travelled, and a large contingent of South Korean civil groups, volunteers, etc.
Had filled portions of the stadium, offering support for either side, so as to temper the political animosity of the divided peninsula. Traditional performances had also occurred outside the ground in the run up to the tie, helping to create the extraordinary atmosphere.
It proved a highly emotive event, particularly for the older, disconnected generations from across the border, and Retired General Chung Kyung-jo told the BBC “It feels like meeting family in Pyong yang”. There was little separating the sides during the match itself with the visiting North Koreans describing it as a high intensity battle.
They survived a last-minute Suwon penalty, to clinch their place in the Asian Women’s Champion League final, at the height of current political tensions.
