The North Korean women's football club Naegohyang Women's FC arrives at Incheon International Airport on May 17 to compete in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
The North Korean women's football club Naegohyang Women's FC arrived at Incheon International Airport on Sunday to participate in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League, marking the first visit by North Korean athletes to South Korea in eight years.
The 39-person delegation — 27 players and 12 coaching staff — appeared in the arrivals lobby of Incheon International Airport at around 2:54 p.m., just under an hour after their Air China flight from Beijing landed. The team reportedly trained near the North Korean embassy in Beijing before flying onward to South Korea.
Dressed in matching black suit uniforms
and sporting nearly identical bowl cuts, the team moved through the arrival area in just 80 seconds, as if they had rehearsed the route beforehand.
People hold banners welcoming the North Korean women's football club Naegohyang Women's FC as it arrives at Incheon International Airport on May 17 to compete in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
The North Korean women's football club Naegohyang Women's FC arrives at Incheon International Airport on May 17 to compete in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
The team wore badges bearing the portraits of North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung and current leader Kim Jong-un on the left side of their jackets. They were led through the airport by head coach Ri Yu-il.
Many players carried brightly colored suitcases in shades such as pink and mint, which contrasted vividly with their somber uniforms.
Despite the constant flashes of cameras and shouts welcoming their visit to Korea, the delegation did not even turn their heads toward onlookers or reporters. The players and officials remained silent despite requests for comment before boarding waiting buses one by one and departing for Suwon, Gyeonggi.
Naegohyang Women’s Football Club will compete in the semifinals of the 2025-26 AWCL, with all matches scheduled to take place at Suwon Sports Complex from May 20 to 23. The North Korean team will face off against South Korean Suwon FC Women on Wednesday.
The North Korean women's football club Naegohyang Women's FC arrives at Incheon International Airport on May 17 to compete in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
People hold banners welcoming the North Korean women's football club Naegohyang Women's FC as it arrives at Incheon International Airport on May 17 to compete in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
The airport was also crowded with people, including groups representing North Korean defectors and civic organizations such as the Korean Peace Solidarity for Sovereignty and Reunification, who gathered early in the day to welcome the team. About 100 police officers were also deployed to the scene.
The players and officials of Naegohyang Women's FC also did not react to banners reading “Welcome, Naegohyang Women’s Football Club” held by throngs of people lining the short route from the arrivals gate to the parking area.
“I made banners with people who shared the same mind as mine and came to the airport,” said Ji Chang-young, who coheads the Incheon branch of the Korean Peace Solidarity for Sovereignty and Reunification.
“Inter-Korean relations have been severed, and we hope this can serve as a small opportunity for Koreans on both sides to reconnect.”
Members of the North Korean women's football club Naegohyang Women's FC head to their buses after arriving at Incheon International Airport on May 17 to compete in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
Members of the North Korean women's football club Naegohyang Women's FC heads to their buses after arriving at Incheon International Airport on May 16 to compete in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
“I came out after seeing news of the North Korean women’s football team’s visit to Korea on TV,” said Lee In-cheol, head of an association of Incheon residents born in North Hamgyeong Province. “Sports exchanges should become more active going forward, if only to help foster an atmosphere of inter-Korean reconciliation.”
All 7,087 tickets for the inter-Korean women’s football match sold out in about 12 hours after reservations opened on May 12.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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