North Korean women’s football club to play in South Korea after nearly eight years

North Korea's women's football team Naegohyang received a grand welcome home ceremony in Pyongyang after winning a recent regional tournament, state media reported Wednesday. Players were greeted Tuesday by government and sports officials, as well as family members, at the airport, before their bus made its way through Pyongyang streets lined with cheering, flag-waving citizens, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, also reported the team's return, with photos of smiling players holding bouquets of flowers. While North Korea's state media lauded the team's victory at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Champions League, they made no mention of the venue. The semifinals and the final of the event were held in Suwon, some 30 kilometers south of Seoul, last week. The players departed South Korea for China on Sunday before returning to Pyongyang, maintaining a stony-faced, restrained demeanor in what appeared to be a carefully staged display amid strained inter-Korean ties. Meanwhile, Nor

Choi Seon-hee sat in the pouring rain at the Suwon Sports Complex on a cold Wednesday evening, watching something that hadn’t happened in South Korea in nearly eight years: a North Korean sports team competing for a trophy on the South’s soil. “We are still one people. We are compatriots,” Choi, a woman in her 50s who travelled from Ansan city, told NK News at the stadium about 20 miles south of Seoul. “I want them to leave with that kind of warm feeling.” Choi was one of roughly 5,760 spectators who gathered at the stadium as Suwon FC Women hosted the Pyongyang-based Naegohyang Women’s Football Club in the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions League semifinals — the first inter-Korean women’s club football match held in the South. At the half-filled stadium, the visiting team won 2-1 in a match that prompted speculation over whether football could become an alternate channel for inter-Korean contact, despite deepening political tensions. Naegohyang’s captain Kim Kyong-yong pounced on Suwon’s defensive error in the second half to score the winn

Choi Seon-hee sat in the pouring rain at the Suwon Sports Complex on a cold Wednesday evening, watching something that hadn’t happened in South Korea in nearly eight years: a North Korean sports team competing for a trophy on the South’s soil. “We are still one people. We are compatriots,” Choi, a woman in her 50s who travelled from Ansan city, told NK News at the stadium about 20 miles south of Seoul. “I want them to leave with that kind of warm feeling.” Choi was one of roughly 5,760 spectators who gathered at the stadium as Suwon FC Women hosted the Pyongyang-based Naegohyang Women’s Football Club in the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions League semifinals — the first inter-Korean women’s club soccer match held in the South. At the half-filled stadium, the visiting team won 2-1 in a match that prompted speculation over whether soccer could become an alternate channel for inter-Korean contact, despite deepening political tensions. Naegohyang’s captain Kim Kyong-yong pounced on Suwon’s defensive error in the second half to score the winning

The North Korean women's football team left for China on Sunday en route to Pyongyang after winning Asia's top tournament in South Korea, maintaining a stony-faced, restrained demeanor in what appeared to be a carefully staged display amid strained inter-Korean ties. Naegohyang Women's FC arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at around 1:50 p.m. to board an Air China flight to Beijing for a stopover before flying back to Pyongyang. The team, led by head coach Ri Yu-il, walked in near-formation to the check-in counters, looking straight ahead, despite some pro-North Korea activists shouting congratulations on their victory and calling out, "Let's meet again next time." They disappeared through the departure gate in only about 10 minutes. Naegohyang Women's FC, comprising 27 players and 12 staff members, arrived in South Korea last Sunday via China, becoming the first group of North Korean athletes to travel to the South in eight years and the first-ever North Korean women's football team to set foot on South Korean soil. The North Korean women's team defeated Tokyo Verdy

The first North Korean sports team to visit the South in eight years crowned their trip by winning the Asian Women’s Champions League, beating Japan’s Tokyo Verdy Beleza 1-0 in Saturday’s final. Naegohyang Women’s FC lifted the trophy thanks to captain Kim Kyong Yong’s goal just before half-time in the South Korean city of Suwon. READ: North Korean women win rare match in South to reach final 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙧, 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣. 🇰🇵 Kim Kyong-yong rises to the occasion!#AWCLFinal | #TVBvNAE pic.twitter.com/KBwTZ81Jnt — AFC Women’s Football (@TheAWCL) May 23, 2026 Women’s football is one of North Korea’s strongest international […]...Keep on reading: North Korean women crowned Asian club champions in South Korea

North Korea's state media on Thursday briefly reported on its women's football club's advancement to the final of a top Asian club tournament, after beating a South Korean rival. In a short dispatch, the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the semifinal between "the Naegohyang Team of the DPRK and the Suwon Team of the ROK" took place in South Korea the previous day, using the acronym of each country's official name. "The Naegohyang Team beat its rival 2:1 and advanced into the final" of the Asian Football Confederation Women's Champions League," it said. It was the first KCNA report on the team since March 29, when it covered the team's quarterfinal victory. The dispatch omitted several details surrounding the match, including the South Korean crowd's reception of the visiting team and the torrential rain that drenched the pitch. The Rodong Sinmun, the official paper of the ruling Workers' Party and one of the few publications accessible to ordinary North Koreans, did run photos of players competing in the downpour. Naegohyang Women's FC defeated Suwon FC Women 2-1 at Suwon Stadi