For Naegohyang FC, AFC cup clash against club in South is just football as usual
Published: 19 May. 2026, 18:33
Updated: 19 May. 2026, 18:48
PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]
Naegohyang Women's FC manager Ri Yu-il speaks during an AFC Women's Champions League pregame press conference at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on May 19. [NEWS1]
SUWON, Gyeonggi — Even before the North Korean football club Naegohyang Women's FC began a press conference ahead of their match against a South Korean team, organizers asked reporters to keep their questions to the tournament or the upcoming match.
"Let's just keep questions on sports and the tournament," an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) representative said at a press room at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday, a day ahead of the North Korean team's scheduled AFC Women's Champions League semifinal against South Korea's Suwon FC.
Multiple South Korean reporters still raised their hands quickly to seize a rare opportunity
— the first in 12 years
— to ask questions to North Korean footballing figures, which started with one reporter asking Naegohyang FC manager Ri Yu-il how he thinks about competing against Suwon FC and Japan's Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza in the final four after playing against both sides in Group C.
Ri answered in a visibly rigid manner.
"I believe all the teams competing in the semifinals and final are on a similar level," Ri said. "Just because teams faced each other in the group stage doesn’t mean you can clearly say who is stronger or weaker. We will do our best to achieve a good result in tomorrow’s match.”
One foreign reporter then followed up with a question about Ri's reaction to cheering groups organized by South Korea, which the manager still answered despite the earlier request that questions stick to football.
Naegohyang Women's FC manager Ri Yu-il, left, and forward Kim Kyong-yong attend an AFC Women's Champions League pregame press conference at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on May 19. [YONHAP]
“We are here to play a match,” Ri said. “We are focused solely on tomorrow’s game and the matches ahead. Matters concerning the cheering squad are not something the players or I, as manager, should be concerned with.”
South Korean officials have spent 300 million won ($190,000) on endeavors to organize cheering groups and welcome the North Korean athletes so that they would not feel isolated in their rare visit to the South.
Reporters continued to ask questions about how the squad feels going into Wednesday’s match, which will determine which club from the Korean Peninsula reaches the final in the second edition of the Women's Champions League.
“As captain and as an attacker, I’m going to try to bring a victory to our team in tomorrow’s match,” forward Kim Kyong-yong said. “The atmosphere within our team is very good. We will give everything we have to live up to the faith and expectations of our families.”
Naegohyang Women's FC forward Kim Kyong-yong speaks during an AFC Women's Champions League pregame press conference at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on May 19. [NEWS1]
Both Kim and Ri gave responses in a strict manner throughout the 15-minute press conference and left the room immediately after the allocated time for the team ended.
The duo's attitude had very much mirrored the sentiment displayed by the whole team when the club arrived at Incheon International Airport on Sunday. Despite the presence of a welcoming committee formed by North Korean defectors and civic organizations, with banners reading “Welcome, Naegohyang Women’s Football Club,” not a single member of the entourage from the North reacted.
Naegohyang Women's FC arrives at Incheon International Airport on May 17. [YONHAP]
Naegohyang FC are the first North Korean footballing delegation to appear in South Korea since the North Korean national team’s participation at the Incheon Asian Games in 2014. This year marks Naegohyang FC's first time competing in the Women's Champions League, which started from the 2024-25 season.
Despite the team's indifference toward South Korea's keen interest and curiosity, the visit has drawn much attention from around the world. Naegohyang
FC are one of the few North Korean teams to participate in an inter-Korean football clash, which draws headlines as the two countries are still technically at war.
Naegohyang FC’s participation in this year’s Women’s Champions League comes at a time when President Lee Jae Myung is trying to restore an inter-Korean relationship that stalled during the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration, which took a hawkish stance against the North.
For Naegohyang, however, Wednesday's semifinal is a football match that just happens to be in the South, against a club from the South.
Such a fixture would likely not happen if the organizers were not the AFC — and in the case of this tournament, it must.
For a friendly between South and North Korea, the North can opt to withdraw and not be penalized, as FIFA does not have specific rules for unilaterally canceling friendlies.
As for AFC-organized fixtures, however, the confederation's rules stipulate that any participating member that withdraws from the Women’s Champions League “shall be fined at least $100,000 if its withdrawal occurred after the commencement of the knockout stage,” and “may be disqualified from participating in one or more future seasons of the AFC Women’s Champions League."
Suwon FC's Ji So-yun speaks during an AFC Women's Champions League pregame press conference at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on May 19. [YONHAP]
Suwon FC, meanwhile, are ready to take on what could be a physically demanding match.
"North Korean players play very aggressively and frequently use abusive language," Suwon FC's Ji So-yun said in a separate pregame press conference on Tuesday. "Naegohyang FC includes many North Korean national team regular picks, and because the club’s manager also manages the national team, the squad is equivalent to the national team in terms of quality. We have prepared a lot for the match."
"We lost 3-0 to Naegohyang FC in a group stage match in Myanmar last November. Our players were intimidated at the time, but we have improved significantly this year and should have a strong chance of winning.”
Once the semifinalists were decided, the clash drew immediate interest, with all 7,087 tickets selling out in about 12 hours after reservations opened on May 12.
BY PAIK JI-HWAN [
[email protected]
]
댓글
0