David Tizzard is a professor at Seoul Women’s University, holds a PhD in Korean Studies, and hosts the Korea Deconstructed podcast. He has lived and worked in Seoul for more than two decades. Reach him at datizzard@swu.ac.kr.
Beautiful game and its memories
By David A. Tizzard
By David Tizzard
North Korea's most famous footballing moment came in the English city of Middlesbrough 52 years ago as they beat the then two time winners Italy to secure their passage to the quarter finals of the 1966 FIFA World Cup.
The Ayresome Park stadium in which the game was held is now gone and in its place stands the all too familiar sight of a council estate. Visitors to the area, however, will note that a bronze imprint of a football boot remains visible there today and signifies the precise position from which Pak Do-ik converted the winning strike for his country.
A lot of stadiums and buildings, be they Olympic Stadiums or apartment blocks, rarely seem to convey much in terms of permanence. There are, of course, those historic buildings which fill us with awe whenever we approach them or stand inside their vaulted halls.
For the most part though, human constructions resonate with a sense of the transitory. Particularly here in Korea where building facades will proudly display their heritage with signs declaring that they were establish as far back as 1992.
Football itself, however, is different. It's not a concrete block. It is a story ― one recorded, told, and passed down from generation to generation. Feats and achievements in this realm carry with them a sense of the eternal.
They exist beyond the simple brick and mortar that is subject to upheaval every time an area requires redevelopment. The buildings are torn down and replaced by new ones.
But for football the history lives on as the results, players, and stories, are continuously added to that one log that was started back in 1872 with the world's first ever international match ― a match between England and Scotland.
There will no doubt be many North Koreans that have dreamed of repeating Pak's feat and joining the echelons of the remembered. Jong Tae-se's energetic performances at the 2010 World Cup, as well as his tears during the national anthem, have perhaps come the closest.
David Tizzard
However, the DPRK's stubbornness in opening up to the wider world, as well as its damaging human rights record and stuttering economy, has meant that opportunities for people from the country to fulfill such dreams or even express them as they might wish have been sadly too few and far between.
And so, a rather different set of North Koreans footballers will be playing this weekend in Seoul and they will be doing so for rather different reasons. On Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m., a team of DPRK defectors will take on a team of British players at the Seoul Foreign School.
They do so not because a statue of their foot may be placed outside a building, but instead to raise awareness for a worthy cause. To promote the health and betterment of those that need it. And, to have some fun.
As part of a wider effort in order to raise money for Sport Relief, a biennial charity event held in association with BBC Sport, the British Embassy Seoul has organized this game between the two nations. The goal will not be World Cup glory but instead to raise money for the Eugene Bell Foundation ― a humanitarian charity which sponsors programs, projects and exchanges in the DPRK with a particular focus on medicine and the diagnosis and treatment of Tuberculosis.
Nicholas Duvivier, head of media and public affairs at the British Embassy, has played a key role in organizing this event alongside Mike Welch, Martin Bushell and Kim Hyok. As a massive football fan, Duvivier felt that this was a “great way to bring people together” and that the timing is particularly important as the British Embassy had been running a campaign “promoting togetherness and the unifying nature of sport” during the recent Winter Olympics.
The DPRK team has been assembled predominantly by Kim Hyok ― himself a defector and keen footballer. Through Kim and the help of Park Daehyeon at the Woorion organization, the team is bringing together North Koreans who have settled in the South and giving them further opportunities to engage in the beautiful game as well as get to know other people.
The Eugene Bell Foundation was chosen as a charity by the Seoul Foreign School who have donated the use of their pitch and facilities for the event. Support has also been provided by the Hana Financial Group and it is hoped that the money raised can help better the lives of those north of the border who need it most, particularly with regard certain troubling diseases.
Fans, spectators, and anyone else looking to support the event can donate at the game on Saturday or through a website online.
Bill Shankley, one of the world's most highly-regarded managers, gave football perhaps its most iconic expression during his time at Liverpool FC saying, “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you it's much more important than that.”
And, to many people, he might be right. Because football is something that traverses the globe. That outlives buildings and structures. It has even outlived the various ideologies of the 20th Century that threatened much of what we find dear. But what exactly is it that we cherish?
Quite simply, to have the freedom and opportunity to play with a group of people on a spring afternoon. To be allowed, despite one's aching knees, dissatisfaction at work, mortgage, smartphone bills, and social media accounts, to be able to play with others.
To play without restriction and purely for the sake of enjoyment. As Duvivier affirms, “No matter what your background or nationality, we all enjoy playing with our friends and getting to know new people on the pitch.”
“It's a funny old game” Jimmy Greaves once quipped. But it's fun, and that's the point.
David Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr
) is an assistant professor at Seoul Women's University and host of TBS eFM's cultural radio show “A Little of a Lot.”