By Kim Bo-eun
A series of football matches between workers of South and North Korea will be held in Seoul on Saturday, three years after the last event was held in Pyongyang.
It is the first civilian exchange between the South and North since the Panmunjeom Declaration was signed at the inter-Korean summit in April.
The football matches between the workers of the two Koreas began in 1999 in Pyongyang. Later events were held in Changwon, South Korea, in 2007 and in Pyongyang in 2015.
The events are organized by the North's General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea (GFTUK) and the South's two major umbrella unions, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU).
A 64-member delegation will arrive in the South on Friday, led by GFTUK chief Ju Yong-gil and including North Korean reporters of the Choson Sinbo.
The three labor unions will hold a joint press conference the same day. It is the first time a press conference will be held on the sidelines of the event.
The union representatives will hold a meeting the following day, and meet with local associations.
The GFTUK will play two games against each of the South's unions on Saturday at the World Cup Stadium in western Seoul.
Around 30,000 people are set to attend the matches on Saturday including union members, as well as South Korean civic groups.
North Korean participants will visit the grave of labor activist Jeon Tae-il and discuss plans for future events before returning on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a 151-member delegation of youth football teams and officials will head to the North on Friday, for an international youth football tournament that will be held in Pyongyang from Aug. 15 to 18.
It is the fourth tournament hosted by the South and North Korean Sports Exchange Association. South Korea hosted the first in 2014 in Yeoncheon County, Gangwon Province.
The delegation is comprised of two youth football teams and Gangwon Provincial Office representatives, referees, journalists and officials of companies sponsoring the event.
The South Korean government will not be paying the North for the accommodation expenses incurred by its delegation staying there, considering the sanctions imposed on the North.
“An agreement was made for the South to pay the expenses when sanctions on the North are lifted,” a unification ministry official said.
The delegation will take a land route to Pyongyang, instead of flying in from China. It will be the first time such a large civilian group will visit the North via a land route.
“We hope for direct travel to increase marking this occasion in which civilians taking a land route was approved,” the official said.
“It saves time and costs compared to stopping by a third country, and not only contributes to boosting inter-Korean exchanges, but will also contribute to the peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula.”