1st inter-Korean women's football match in South in years kicks off

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young enters a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, May 6. Yonhap

South Korea's Suwon FC Women face North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC Wednesday night in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, in what will be the first inter-Korean sports match on South Korean soil in seven-and-a-half years — a match that carries political weight far beyond the pitch.

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, speaking at a National Assembly session Wednesday ahead of the evening kickoff, framed the match as an opportunity to set a "positive precedent" for inter-Korean ties.

"I think the arrival of the North Korean sports team marks a meaningful milestone, as it is the first time a North Korean athletic team has set foot in the South in seven-and-a-half years," Chung said. "The ministry will carefully manage the situation in hopes that the event can help restore the long-fractured trust between the two Koreas."

Chung explained that while Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Chae Hwi-young would attend the match in person, he chose not to.

“The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) requested our assistance in ensuring that the AFC Women's Champions League could be held independently of the political situation. On that basis, I decided not to attend,” he said.

He added that civic organizations' voluntary cheering for both Korean teams could itself set a positive example, noting that "trust (between the two Koreas) must be built step by step."

North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC players arrive at Incheon International Airport, Sunday, as members of a South Korean civic group holding banners with welcoming messages greet them in the background. The football team is scheduled to play a semifinal match against South Korea's Suwon FC Women for the Asian Football Confederation Women's Champions League in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

On and off the pitch

The match is making headlines as it is also the first visit by a North Korean women's football club to the South. It will be broadcast live nationwide on KBS and Coupang Play, a rarity given that women’s football matches are seldom featured on major public networks.

Suwon FC Women enter the semifinal against Naegohyang Women's FC at a disadvantage on paper. The two sides met in Myanmar in November 2025, with Suwon suffering a 3-0 defeat. The equation has shifted somewhat with the arrival of star midfielder and club captain Ji So-yun, alongside national team defender Kim Hye-ri and attacker Choe Yu-ri. Rainy weather adds another layer of uncertainty. The winner advances to the final on Saturday.

The Ministry of Unification allocated 300 million won ($200,000) in inter-Korea cooperation funds to civic cheering squads supporting both teams, many of whose members are North Korean defectors and displaced persons who have hometowns in the North. The move sparked criticism because government funding of this nature is traditionally reserved for civic organizations and individuals supporting unified joint Korean teams, not separate club sides.

When main opposition People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok raised the issue during the National Assembly session, the unification minister clarified, “This is nothing but political red-baiting; instead of letting partisan divides separate us, everyone should join hands to ensure the event's success.”

Public reaction to the match has been mixed, with some citizens expressing excitement while others remain entirely indifferent.

"I watched the North Korean players arrive at the airport and they, as always, appeared tense and rigid," said Kim Jeong-woon, an office worker in Gyeonggi Province. "I plan to watch the game today. My hope is that we see an increase in these types of sporting and cultural exchanges, allowing long-frozen emotions to finally thaw into reconciliation."

Kim Jin-ju, a yoga instructor in her 30s, said, "Inter-Korean relations seem to be improving. However, I won't be tuning in to the match today — to be honest, I don't even watch the Korea-Japan games."

Former President Moon Jae-in, second from left, sings South Korea’s national anthem during the opening ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, Feb. 9, 2018, with the presence of Kim Yo-jong, right, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and Kim Yong-nam, center, then the North’s nominal head of state. AP-Yonhap

Sports as bridge

Even as a club match rather than a national fixture, the game stirred hopes that sport could once again serve as a diplomatic opening, as it has at pivotal moments over the past several decades.

Sports exchanges between the two Koreas began in 1963, when they held talks to discuss forming a unified team for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The efforts later paved the way for the inter-Korean unification football match in 1990, the first sports exchange between the two Koreas since the national division. That led to the signing of the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement in 1991, which stresses reconciliation, nonaggression, exchanges and cooperation, and led the two Koreas to join the United Nations simultaneously.

The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics were a high point. The two marched together under the Korean Peninsula flag at the opening ceremony, while South Korean athletes in snow sports held joint training with their North Korean counterparts at the Masikryong Ski Resort in the North. A unified women’s ice hockey team was also formed, marking the first-ever joint Korean team in Olympic history.

The event led to the inter-Korean summit between the leaders of the two Koreas in April 2018, where South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed the Panmunjeom Declaration, which stresses cooperation on officially ending the 1950-53 Korean War, which technically remains in a state of truce.

The most recent such sports event was a table tennis world tour held in Incheon in December 2018, when five players took part in a unified team with South Korea. The North also joined the 2018 ISSF World Shooting Championships held in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. In terms of a football, Wednesday's match marks the first in 12 years, since the 2014 Asian Games held in Incheon in 2014.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and former South Korean President Moon Jae-in cross the military demarcation line to the South side at the border village of Panmunjeom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea, in this April 27, 2018, file photo. Korea Summit Press Pool

Air vs. land routes

Naegohyang flew into South Korea via Beijing on Sunday, rather than crossing overland, which indicates the current state of inter-Korean relations. The use of land routes has historically served as a barometer of diplomatic trust and cross-border cooperation between the two Koreas.

Under the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act of 1990, citizens of either Korea who wish to cross the border must obtain official travel documents approved by both governments. One of the most memorable overland visits was made in 1998, when the late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung crossed the border into the North with a historic donation of more than 1,000 head of cattle.

A few months after the leaders of the two Koreas met in 2018, 84 players used a land route to cross into South Korea to take part in the fifth Ari Sports Cup U-15 youth football tournament on Oct 25, 2018, which became the last time a sports team used the land route to travel to the South.

On Oct. 15, 2024, North Korea blew up the remaining land links, including Gyeongui and Donghae roads and rail lines between the two Koreas, except for the Pamunjeom area, making it impossible to travel overland across the Demilitarized Zone.

Late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung crosses Panmunjeom with 500 head of cattle bound for donation to North Korea, June 16, 1998. Korea Times file