On the afternoon of May 23, players from Naegohyang Women's FC take a commemorative photo prior to the match against Tokyo Verdy Beleza in the final of the 2025–2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Champions League (AWCL) held at the Suwon Sports Complex in Gyeonggi Province. (Newsis) The South Korean government spent about 235 million won ($159,000) to support civic cheering events and event operations during the visit of a North Korean women's soccer club in May, according to a settlement report released by the Ministry of Unification on Monday.The Unification Ministry reported to the National Assembly that a total of 235.29 million won was ultimately disbursed to the inter-Korean cooperation fund in connection with the visit of North Korea's Naegohyang Women's Football Club, which competed in the semifinals and final of the 2025-26 Asian Football Confederation Women's Champions League in South Korea.The fund is a government-managed public reserve established in 1991 under the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund Act. It finances a broad range of inter-Korean activities, including humanitarian aid, economic cooperation, exchanges, infrastructure and other government-approved projects.Of the total, 148.74 million won was spent on supporting joint cheering events organized by private civic groups.The ministry said the fund covered 25.24 million won to purchase 5,048 match tickets — 3,048 for the semifinals and 2,000 for the final — 59.1 million won for cheering supplies and refreshments, and 64.4 million won for organizing the cheering activities.The latter included the operation of on-site booths, cheerleaders, service contractor fees and value-added taxes.Another 84.55 million won was allocated to event operations supporting the North Korean team's visit, including 55.91 million won for event management and 28.64 million won for safety measures.According to the ministry, event management expenses covered items such as electronic scoreboards and vehicle rentals, raincoats and other event supplies, as well as honoraria for staff from participating civic organizations.A ministry official said the event operation budget also included costs not directly related to the cheering campaign, such as security measures along the North Korean team's travel routes to ensure the smooth and safe operation of the visit.An additional 2 million won was spent on an independent accounting audit of the subsidy settlement report.The government had initially approved up to 319.45 million won in funding, citing the contribution of the North Korean team's visit and civic cheering activities to promote mutual understanding between the two Koreas.The ministry said it had initially provided an advance payment to the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Support Association, which handled logistical support for the civic cheering campaign, because it was difficult to accurately estimate participation on short notice. The final amount was determined after a post-event accounting review based on actual expenditures.The ministry stressed that the funding was provided at the request of private organizations and was consistent with the purposes authorized under the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund Act.The funding, however, drew criticism from some who argued that it was inappropriate to use taxpayer-funded resources to support cheering events for a North Korean soccer team, particularly given that individual spectators were required to purchase their own tickets.Naegohyang Women's FC visited South Korea from May 20 to 23, defeating Suwon FC Women in the semifinals and Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza in the final to win the 2025-26 AFC Women's Champions League title.The visit marked the first time in nearly eight years that North Korean athletes had competed in South Korea since the International Table Tennis Federation World Tour Grand Finals in December 2018.