A North Korean womens football team will play a match in South Korea, a first since 2014

A historic move. A North Korean women’s football team will play in South Korea on May 20 against a local club in the first sports trip from the North to the country since 2018, Seoul announced on Monday. The two neighbors are technically still at war, with their conflict ending in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

According to the South Korean Unification Ministry, responsible for relations with Pyongyang, North Korean authorities have transmitted a “notification concerning a delegation of 39 people” from the women’s club Naegohyang, who will face the South Korean team Suwon in the AFC Women’s Club Championship semifinals, the main tournament in the region. The ministry did not specify the arrival date of the team, which will include 27 players and 12 club members.

The winner will face either Australia’s Melbourne City or Japan’s Tokyo Verdy Beleza in the final on May 23, still in South Korea. “The team that loses the semifinal will return home on May 21, with no match for third place scheduled,” the ministry stated in a press release.

First sports trip since 2018

This match is set to mark the first visit by a North Korean sports team to the South since 2018, when junior football, shooting, and table tennis delegations made the trip. The last visit by a North Korean women’s football team dates back to 2014 when the national team participated in the Asian Games in Incheon.

The Naegohyang team, based in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, is made up of “national-level players,” the ministry added. North Korean national teams are among the most successful on the continent, with several international trophies in recent years, widely praised by state propaganda.

Last November, the U-17 team retained their crown at the FIFA Women’s World Cup by beating the Netherlands 3-0. The U-20 team is also the reigning champions. The senior national team is currently ranked 11th in the world, just behind Japan (5th) in Asia.

This sports event comes as Seoul seeks to warm up relations with its neighbor. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has been making calls to resume dialogue and has been urging talks with the North without preconditions.

An olive branch from South Korea

Mr. Lee, who replaced the hardliner Yoon Suk Yeol in 2025, has stated that the two countries will one day “blossom the flowers of peace.” This olive branch has so far been rejected by Pyongyang, which insists that Seoul remains its “most hostile enemy.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has described South Korean conciliatory gestures as “deceptive,” is seeking to strengthen his country’s nuclear arsenal, equipped with atomic bombs. The North has also stepped up its military tests, with four tests in April, the highest number in a month in two years, involving weapons under sanctions.

Meanwhile, Pyongyang is expanding its ties with Russia, supporting its invasion of Ukraine by sending troops and equipment and receiving economic and technical assistance in return.