North Korean women’s football club headed to Seoul in rare trip across the border

Visit will be the first time a North Korean women’s football team has competed on southern soil since the 2014 Incheon Asian Games

A North Korean women’s football club will travel to South Korea this month, marking the first visit by a northern sports delegation in nearly eight years, at a time of near-total estrangement between the two Koreas.

Naegohyang Women’s FC, based in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang, will face South Korea’s Suwon FC Women at Suwon sports complex, on 20 May for the semi-finals of the AFC Women’s Champions League.

South Korea’s football association said the Asian Football Confederation had confirmed Naegohyang’s participation on 1 May. A delegation of 39, consisting of 27 players and 12 staff, is expected to arrive on 17 May, according to the unification ministry.

It will be the first time a North Korean women’s football team has competed on southern soil since the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.