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A North Korean women’s football club is set to travel to South Korea later this month to compete in a major regional tournament, marking a rare instance of cross-border sporting exchange between the two countries.
According to the Korea Football Association (KFA), Naegohyang Women’s FC will take on Suwon FC Women in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Champions League on May 20. The match will be played at Suwon Stadium, located roughly 30km south of Seoul.
Naegohyang Women’s FC, consisting of 27 players and 12 staff members, is scheduled to arrive in South Korea on May 17 via Beijing, landing at the Incheon International Airport. The semifinal clash will determine one of the finalists in the tournament, with the final set for May 23 at the same venue in Suwon.
The North Korean side enters the match with a previous win over their South Korean opponents, having defeated the Suwon FC Women 3-0 during the group stage in Myanmar last November.
While sporting contact between the two countries remains limited, there have been a few notable precedents. North Korea’s women’s national team traveled to South Korea in 2005 and 2013 to compete in the regional competition, E-1 Women's Football Championship, the premier women's national team tournament in East Asia organized by the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF).
However, participation has not been consistent. Although South Korea hosted the same tournament in 2019 and 2025, North Korea withdrew from both editions.
In another example of past engagement, North Korea competed in the 2014 Asian Games held in Incheon, where its women’s national team secured the gold medal after defeating Japan.
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