North Korean women's football team beat South Korean hosts in rarity

WorldFootball
21 May 2026 • 12:19 AM MYT
DPA International
DPA International

DPA, founded in 1949, one of the world’s leading independent news agencies

Image from: North Korean women's football team beat South Korean hosts in rarity
North Korea's Choe Kum-ok scores a goal during the AFC Women's Champions League semi-final soccer match between North Korea and South Korea at Asian Football Confederation Women's Champions League at Suwon Stadium. -/YNA/dpa

North Korea's Naegohyang FC beat South Korean hosts Suwon 2-1 in the Asian Women's Champions League on Wednesday in a rare match between the nations.

The North Koreans from Pyongyang will also now play the final in South Korea against Tokyo Verdy Beleza on Saturday.

It was the first meeting between sports teams from South Korea and North Korea since 2018.

Back then, sports teams from the northern part of the Korean peninsula were in South Korea for shooting, table tennis and youth football following a temporary thaw in relations at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

South Korean news agency Yonhap said it was be the first visit by North Korean women footballers to South Korea since the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

There have been tensions for more than seven decades between communist North Korea and democratic South Korea. An armistice has been in place between the two states since the end of the Korean War in 1953. There is no peace treaty.

Image from: North Korean women's football team beat South Korean hosts in rarity
South Korean's Ji So-yun club takes a penalty during the AFC Women's Champions League semi-final soccer match between North Korea and South Korea at Asian Football Confederation Women's Champions League at Suwon Stadium. -/YNA/dpa
Image from: North Korean women's football team beat South Korean hosts in rarity
North Korea's Kim Kyong-yong (L) scores her side's second goal during the AFC Women's Champions League semi-final soccer match between North Korea and South Korea at Asian Football Confederation Women's Champions League at Suwon Stadium. -/YNA/dpa