The first sporting meeting between teams from South Korea and North Korea since 2018 is set for May 20 in the Women’s Asian Champions League.
Naegohyang FC of Pyongyang will face Suwon FC in the semifinals, marking a rare cross-border encounter.
The Korea Football Association said the North Korean side has submitted its list of players and staff to the Asian Football Confederation ahead of the trip for the match near Seoul.
South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Monday that the delegation consists of 27 players and 12 staff members. It is scheduled to arrive in South Korea on May 17, traveling from Beijing.
The report said it would be the first visit by North Korean women’s footballers to South Korea since the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
Most recently, in 2018, sports teams from North Korea traveled to South Korea for shooting, table tennis and youth football during a temporary thaw in relations around the Winter Olympics.
Tensions between North Korea and South Korea have persisted for more than seven decades. An armistice has been in place since the end of the Korean War in 1953, but no peace treaty has been signed.
Attempts at rapprochement, including through sport, have largely been unsuccessful.
