A rare inter-Korean sports clash will take place in South Korea this month. For the first time in 8 years, a North Korean sports team will play in the South.
https://p.dw.com/p/5DC2hThe match comes as Seoul seeks to mend a years-long strained relationship with Pyongyang [File: February 25, 2018]Image: Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo/picture allianceAdvertisementA North Korean women's soccer club will visit South Korea for a face-off between the rival neighbors, making it the first sports team since 2018 to play on the South's soil, the Unification Ministry in Seoul said on Monday.
North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC is set to play against the South Korean Suwon FC Women on May 20 in the semi-finals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Champions League.
Pyongyang has sent a list of a delegation of 27 players and 12 staff who would visit South Korea for the semi-final of Asia's top-tier women's football club competition, the ministry said.
The winning club would play the league's final against either Australia's Melbourne City or Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza on May 23.
"The losing team in the semi-final will return home on Thursday, May 21, with no third-place playoff scheduled," the South Korean Unification Ministry said in a press statement.
The last time North Korean athletes competed in South Korea was in 2018 when shooting, youth football and table tennis delegations traveled there.
The two Koreas had also formed a historic unified ice hockey team at the 2018 Winter Olympics, held in Pyeongchang.
Monday's development comes as Seoul, under President Lee Jae Myung, seeks to mend a years-long strained relationship with Pyongyang.
The two sides technically remain at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty.
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