Photo : Kyodo / Yonhap
The South Korean government has approved a visit by a North Korean women’s football team.
The unification ministry issued a statement Thursday that the Pyongyang-based Naegohyang Women’s FC will arrive in Suwon, south of Seoul, on Sunday to face Suwon FC Women in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League.
This will be the first appearance by a North Korean sports team on South Korean soil since the International Table Tennis Federation World Tour Grand Finals in Incheon in December 2018, and the first visit by a women’s football squad from the North since the Asian Games in Incheon in 2014.
The 39-member team is scheduled to stay from May 17 to 24.
Under the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act, North Korean nationals must receive individual government approval to enter South Korea.
The North Korean team will leave earlier if eliminated in the semifinals, slated for Wednesday.