Joint cheers echo as NK team edges Suwon FC Women in historic match

Supporters cheer for South Korea's Suwon FC Women and Naegohyang Women's FC of North Korea at Suwon Sports Complex, south of Seoul, during the AFC Women’s Champions League semifinal match, Wednesday. Yonhap

SUWON, Gyeonggi Province — Rain lashed down on Suwon Sports Complex, south of Seoul, Wednesday evening, but it did little to dampen the intensity on the pitch or the emotions in the stands as Suwon FC Women faced North Korea’s Naegohyang Women's FC in the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League (AWCL) semifinal.

The two professional sides battled through sheets of rain and swirling wind for a place in Saturday’s final, chasing what would be a first AWCL title for either club and a landmark trophy for women’s football in both Koreas.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) brought both the semifinals and final of the continental tournament to Suwon, creating an opportunity for Suwon FC Women to stage their AWCL debut on home turf after winning the 2024 WK League title.

The host pushed to deliver a historic first continental crown for the Korean women’s professional league, but ultimately fell 2-1 to Naegohyang. The North Korean side advanced to face Japan’s Tokyo Verdy Beleza in Saturday’s final at 2 p.m. on the same pitch, with about $1 million in prize money at stake.

Match drawing unusual crowd

In the stands, however, the story was as unusual as the scoreline.

Of the 5,763 spectators in attendance, some hundreds were members of Suwon supporters’ group Fortress, who turned up in their customary navy and wine-colored shirts and scarves, chanting behind one goal as they would for any league match.

Supporters of Suwon FC cheer for their team during the AFC Women's Champions League semifinal match against Naegohyang Women's FC at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Captured from Suwon FC supporters Fortress Instagram

On an adjoining side of the stadium, an estimated 3,000 cheered for both Koreas, waving small flags bearing both Suwon Women FC and Naegohyang Women's FC and striking long inflatable batons together.

Many in the joint section identified themselves as divided families or their descendants. The two Koreas are still technically at war with many family members separated.

“There are a lot of second- and third-generation separated family members who came because they think, ‘The players on the North Korean team could be my family members,’” said Kim Duk-hyung, 64, a second-generation divided family member living in Seoul.

“We didn’t come to support Naegohyang alone. We honestly cheer for both teams,” he added, explaining that about 100 people from his Pyongan Province hometown association were in the stands.

“I hope that when the match is over, the players can walk off holding hands and smiling,” said Park Hye-sung, a middle-aged member of the inter-Korean solidarity group Okedongmu Children in Korea. “Because it’s raining, I just want the game to finish safely, and for the North Korean players to feel, ‘I’m glad we played in South Korea’ — if they can go home with that feeling, I have nothing more to wish for.”

Pu Song-gum, a Korean living in Japan who flew to watch the match, said she came because it was “a special inter-Korean game” and added, “Our family is scattered across the Korean Peninsula, so as someone who wants unification, I wanted to cheer here today.”

Ryu Jeong, left, of Naegohyang FC vies for the ball with Ayaka Nishikawa of Suwon FC Women during a semifinal match of the AFC Women’s Champions League at Suwon Sports Complex, south of Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Their chants reflected that double allegiance. The group repeatedly clapped and shouted, “Naegohyang!” and intermittently called out, “Suwon, stay strong!” and “Fighting, Suwon!”

The support was far from the choreographed, drum-led routines of K League terraces, and the sound never fully blended with that of the Fortress section behind the opposite goal, but they reacted enthusiastically to key moments for both sides. They roared when Naegohyang scored, and they cheered when Suwon’s defense held firm.

Some Suwon fans viewed the night in more straightforward sporting terms.

“Setting politics aside, I’m a supporter, so I came to cheer for my club,” said Lee, a 22-year-old Suwon fan who watched from the S stand, normally reserved for away supporters. “Even though we’re not in the usual home end, this isn’t a K League match, so I think we should follow the rules,” Lee said, adding that the sound of the joint cheering group “didn’t really reach” the home fans’ section.

For Fortress capo Kim Jeong-seok, 33, the scene was a novelty.

“It’s my first time seeing a joint cheering group, so it was interesting,” he said. “I think cheering for football is always a good thing. In the end, we all want the same thing: for the players to stay safe and play well.”

By halftime, with the score locked at 0-0 and the rain showing no signs of easing, roughly half of the joint cheering section quietly filtered out, leaving pockets of drummers and flag-wavers scattered around the stands.

Those who stayed continued to applaud for both sides. When the final whistle blew and Naegohyang’s 2-1 victory was confirmed, they rose in unison, shouting, “Naegohyang won! Naegohyang! Naegohyang!” as the players saluted the soaked but jubilant crowd.

Members of inter-Korean joint cheering squad cry in joy as Naegohyang Women’s FC secures victory over Suwon FC Women in the semifinals of the AFC Women’s Champions League at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin

In South Korea, the match faced criticism from sports fans and experts.

International affairs commentator and lifelong football fan Lee Young-joo said the spectacle felt less like organic culture and more like a political project.

“What I felt most strongly was that civic groups and the Ministry of Unification were really starved for something like this, after years of stalled inter-Korean dialogue,” Lee said. “Then suddenly a North Korean football team comes, and it’s like, ‘Perfect, let’s use this.’”

Both Lee and football analyst Ahn Min-ho argued that the event’s framing as a symbolic inter-Korean spectacle overshadowed the basic competitive logic of professional sport.

“In pro football, ‘both teams win’ is impossible. It’s money on the table, money at stake,” Lee said, calling the idea of joint cheering “baffling” for fans and “heartbreaking and humiliating” for players who had “shed blood, sweat and tears” only to see their home match turn into a political stage.

Suwon FC Women’s Ji So-yun reacts in disappointment after missing a penalty kick during an equalizing opportunity in the semifinals of the AFC Women’s Champions League against Naegohyang Women’s FC at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Yonhap

Mirroring Lee’s view that the joint cheering scenes seemed “bizarre,” Ahn noted “the term (joint cheering) doesn’t really exist in sports. In sports, there are teams and you support your team. That clash is the basic essence of competition.”

Both experts were especially critical of how the arrangement affected Suwon FC as hosts, noting that Suwon’s home semifinal felt more like an away fixture, despite the KFA bringing the match to Suwon to give them a favorable environment. “For players, seemingly minor details of home advantage can feel enormous, and that’s why home matches always have a higher winning rate,” Ahn noted.

After the match, Suwon FC Women head coach Park Gil-young fought back tears and said, “We are Suwon FC Women, a South Korean football team. Throughout the game, I felt upset and my heart was heavy.”

With the inter-Korean “joint cheering” squad set to return on Saturday, the two experts also warned that promotion may have done little to build lasting support for women’s football in Suwon and Korea.

“Some say this (joint cheering event) will create a virtuous cycle for women’s football, but from a sports marketing perspective, it makes no sense,” Ahn said. “Yes, it drew attention, but in the end, Naegohyang got the spotlight and Suwon did not. Among those who came for the first time, how many will return in the next five years to watch Suwon FC Women?

“For people in the football world, it was deeply unpleasant,” Ahn said. “It sends the message that football can be treated lightly, as a prop.”