North Korea's women's soccer team "Naegohyang FC" set foot on Korean soil on the 17th. It is the first visit by a North Korean sports delegation to Korea in eight years.
According to the Ministry of Unification on the 17th, North Korea's Naegohyang Women's Football Club arrived via Incheon International Airport at about 2:20 p.m. on the 17th. The delegation is said to have left Pyongyang on the morning of the 12th on an Air Koryo flight for Beijing, China, trained near the North Korean Embassy, and then entered Korea on an Air China flight on this day.
The delegation that entered this time consists of a total of 39 people, including 27 players (including reserves) and 12 staff. The approved period of stay is from the 17th to the 24th. However, the Naegohyang Women's Football Club is expected to depart early if it loses in the semifinals.
Naegohyang Women's Football Club will play the 2025-26 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Champions League (AWCL) semifinal against Suwon FC Women at Suwon Sports Complex on the 20th.
When the two teams faced off in Myanmar in November last year, Naegohyang Women's Football Club won 3-0.
The winner this time will play the final on the 23rd at the same venue against the winner of Melbourne City (Australia) vs. Tokyo Verdy (Japan).
The inter-Korean women's soccer match reportedly sold out all 7,087 seats about 12 hours after ticket sales opened on the 12th.
It is the first time in 7 years and 5 months that a North Korean delegation has visited Korea to participate in a sporting event since the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Grand Finals held in Incheon in December 2018. Limiting to the women's soccer team, it is the first time in 12 years since the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.