North Korea defeated South Korea 2-1 in a football match played under political tension at the Women's East Asian Cup tournament here on Sunday.
At Seoul World Cup Stadium, Ho Eun-byol scored two first-half goals as North Korea overcame an early one-goal deficit to beat South Korea for the 10th time in their 12th meeting.
This is the first trip to South Korea by a North Korean women's football team since the 2005 East Asian Cup.
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North Korean players rejoice after winning a football match against South Korea at the Women`s East Asian Cup tournament at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sunday. (Yonhap News) |
The match was played under a cloud of lingering tension on the divided peninsula. Government officials from the two sides have held multiple rounds of talks on ways to reopen a joint industrial complex north of the border, but have so far failed to make much progress.
North Korea conducted its third nuclear test five months ago and had spewed out near-daily war threats against Seoul and Washington before shifting to an apparent charm offensive in early June by making offers for dialogue.
North Korea entered the tournament ranked ninth in the world, while South Korea is at 16th.
After a cautious opening to the match, Kim Soo-yun opened the scoring for South Korea in the 26th minute. After a mad scramble near the North Korean net, Kim beat two opposing defenders to the loose ball and rolled one past the goalkeeper Hong Myong-hui.
Then the North Koreans quickly took over. Ho tied the score in the 36th, converting a rebound after a goal line mayhem. In the very next minute, Ho redirected a Kim Su-gyong cross with her head for the go-ahead goal, catching South Korean keeper Kim Jung-mi out of position.
South Korea was in attack mode early in the second half. Four minutes after the break, forward Ji So-yun put her head on a corner but it went right at Hong in the Norht Korean net.
In the 65th, Ji curled a free kick from the left edge of the box and it traveled just wide of the far post. Two minutes later, Jeon Ga-eul unleased a hard shot from the right but Hong punched it out to keep it a one-goal match for her side.
North Koreans held their ground as their opponents ran out of gas in the late part of the match.
The match was played before only 6,530 fans at the 66,000-seat stadium. The North Korean players drew scattered cheers when they were introduced at the start of the match.
The North Koreans were cheered on by a group of Japanese residents holding North Korean nationality, whose entry was approved by the South Korean foreign ministry last week.
Also, nearly 100 members of a South Korean pro-unification civic group attended the match and held up pieces of paper in blue, the primary color of the unification flag. The two Koreas have marched in as one under that flag at earlier Olympics and Asian Games.
The group, called the South Korean Committee for the Joint Implementation of the June 15 Summit Declaration, also chanted "Unification of the Koreas!" at the start of the second half. Its members promote the implementation of the declaration from the first inter-Korean summit held in 2000.
According to an official with the Korea Football Association (KFA), the South Korean football governing body, the group also held up a sign that read, "From Mt. Paekdu to Mt. Halla, We are One," referring to mountains on the northern and the southern ends of the peninsula. Police later asked the members to take down the sign, the KFA official said.
At a pre-tournament press conference on Friday, a North Korean assistant coach Kim Kwang-ung refused to answer questions related to inter-Korean ties, saying his team was there only to play football.
Japan and China are the two other participants in the Women's East Asian Cup. Japan defeated China 2-0 on Saturday.
South Korea will next face China on Wednesday in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul. North Korea's next match is against Japan on Thursday, also in Hwaseong.
Japan is the two-time defending champion of the tournament. Later on Sunday, Japan and China are scheduled to play in the men's competition. South Korea and Australia played to a scoreless draw in the opening men's match on Saturday. (Yonhap News)
