North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC head coach Ri Yu-il and player Kim Kyong-yong attend a press conference in South Korea, announcing they will focus solely on the football match and future games, despite a 3,000-strong cheering squad organized by activist groups.
North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC head coach Ri Yu-il and his player Kim Kyong-yong attend a press conference at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon on May 19, ahead of the Women's Asian Champions League semi-final football match against South Korea's Suwon FC Women.
SUWON, South Korea — North Korea's Naegohyang FC will focus only on football during their rare visit to South Korea, their coach said on Tuesday when asked about a 3,000-strong cheering squad organised by activist groups for their game against Suwon FC Women. Naegohyang face the South Korean club in the Asian Women's Champions League semi-finals in Suwon on Wednesday, marking the first visit by North Korean athletes to the South in eight years.
More than 200 South Korean civic groups have formed a squad to cheer on both teams, saying they support fair play and peace, according to Yonhap news agency.
"We came here strictly to play the match... We are focused solely on tomorrow's match and the matches ahead," Naegohyang Women's FC Coach Ri Yu-il told a press conference.
"The issue of the cheering squad is not something I, as coach, or our players are thinking about. I think we will focus only on the game.
""To repay the trust and expectations of ... our parents and siblings, we will give everything," she told the press conference. The delegation of 27 players and 12 staff arrived on Sunday, with its stay approved under South Korea's inter-Korean exchange law. The visit comes despite strained ties between the two Koreas, with Pyongyang recently calling Seoul its "most hostile state".
Please follow us on Google to support usNorth Korea Naegohyang Women's FC South Korea Suwon Sports Complex Asian Women's Champions League Suwon FC Women Ri Yu-Il Kim Kyong-Yong Strained Relations Between North And South Kor Peace And Fair Play
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