우재연
| 2026-05-20 22:15:30
inter-Korean football-cheering squad
Soaked but undeterred, fans see hope in rare inter-Korean match
By Woo Jae-yeon
SUWON, South Korea, May 20 (Yonhap) -- Undeterred despite a relentless downpour, spectators wrapped in raincoats took their seats at an open-air stadium in Suwon, 30 kilometers south of Seoul, on Wednesday. Yellow banners reading "Cheer up, we are here to support you" rippled in the wet air and fans waved two flags -- one for each side.
They had come to witness a historic women's football match between South Korea's Suwon FC Women and North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC.
For many in the crowd, the score seemed to have hardly mattered. What mattered was that both teams were on the same pitch.
Naegohyang Women's FC, comprising 27 players and 12 staff members, arrived here Sunday via China, becoming the first group of North Korean athletes to travel south of the inter-Korean border in eight years and the first-ever North Korean women's football team to step on South Korean soil.
Kang Kwang-duck, who runs a trading company in Incheon, west of Seoul, made the trip with about 20 fellow businessmen, all of whom had traded with North Korean counterparts before inter-Korean relations soured.
Watching players from both Koreas run on the same field stirred something in him, he said.
"Inter-Korean relations have been frozen for a long time, but if an atmosphere of reconciliation takes shape, political improvement could naturally follow," he said, firmly.
"Once that mood is established, even the current tensions could begin to ease."
Near the stadium entrance, an elderly couple sat on the steps, sheltering from the rain before kickoff.
Kim Yong-ho, 76, had flown in from Shanghai with his wife, Lee Soon-ok, specifically to attend the match. For decades, the couple has been involved in quiet, grassroots efforts to support North Koreans on humanitarian grounds.
In 1999, after witnessing North Korea's mountains stripped bare by people burning trees for fuel, Kim helped organize a campaign the same year that sent 600,000 trees across the border.
His wife, Lee, said she noticed many elderly in the crowd who struggled with the steps.
"You see how many older people are here tonight. We aren't even that old," she said.
"They long for unification. They believe it could solve many problems South Korea faces, like the shrinking population and the lack of jobs," she added. "They haven't given up, like us."
Nearby stood Kim Yong, pulling on a second raincoat against the downpour.
He said he has long believed a change between the two Koreas, if it ever comes, will not be driven by governments alone.
"If we can show them, even in small ways, that we are the same people with the same heart, maybe those ordinary citizens over there will realize, whatever their leaders tell them, that we feel exactly as they do," he said.
"From there, you work at it slowly. You soften it, bit by bit. Ice melts if you keep it warm long enough, doesn't it?" he said, before heading back into the rain to watch the rest of the game.
Naegohyang beat their South Korean rivals in Wednesday's semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Champions League.
They will face Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza in the finals, set to be held 2 p.m. Saturday at the Suwon stadium, offering another rare chance to many here who are apparently willing to cheer for their North Korean compatriots, along with inter-Korean relations.
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