SEOUL, May 17 (AJP) - A North Korean women's football team arrived in South Korea on Sunday to compete in the Asian Football Confederation Women's Champions League semifinals, setting the stage for a rare and highly anticipated inter-Korean match.
The Naegohyang Women's FC delegation, consisting of 27 players and 12 staff members, landed at Incheon International Airport at approximately 2:20 p.m., according to South Korea's Ministry of Unification.
The team is scheduled to face off against South Korea's Suwon FC Women on Wednesday, May 20, at 7:00 p.m. The semifinal clash will take place at the Suwon Sports Complex.
The North Korean arrival marks the first time a sports delegation from the North has visited South Korea in eight years, ending a drought that dates back to the International Table Tennis Federation World Tour Grand Finals in December 2018. In the realm of women's football, it is the first visit by a North Korean team in 12 years, following the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
The four-team tournament in Suwon will feature another major international matchup on Wednesday, with Australia's Melbourne City FC taking on Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza at 2:00 p.m. The finals and third-place matches are scheduled for May 23.
The North Korean squad began their journey to the tournament on the morning of May 12, taking an Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang to Beijing. After holding training sessions near the North Korean Embassy in the Chinese capital, the team completed their journey to South Korea via an Air China flight on Sunday.
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