North Korean Women’s Club Team to Play AFC Semifinal Match in Suwon

The unification ministry said on May 7, 2026 that it will approve a planned visit by a North Korean women's football team to South Korea, based on information submitted by the Korean Football Association. Pyongyang-based Naegohyang Women's FC is set to travel to Suwon on May 20, 2026 to face Suwon FC Women in the semifinals of the AFC Women's Champions League.

Suwon is located some 30 kilometers south of Seoul.

The visit will mark the first appearance by a North Korean athletic team on South Korean soil in more than seven years. Under the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act, North Korean nationals must receive individual government approval to enter South Korea. A ministry official said the KFA has yet to submit the necessary application as of Thursday morning on May 7, 2026.

On another front, the ministry said it respects South Korean civic groups' support for the visiting team. The ministry advised against displaying the Korean unification flag at the match. The Korean unification flag features a blue silhouette of the Korean Peninsula and has been previously used to show support for a unified Korean team at international sporting events.

Members of the starting lineup for Naegohyang Women's FC posed for a photo before taking on Ho Chi Minh City Women's FC in the clubs' quarterfinal match at the AFC Women's Champions League. The quarterfinal match between Naegohyang Women's FC and Ho Chi Minh City Women's FC took place at Lao National Stadium KM16 in Vientiane, Laos, on March 28, 2026.

The photo of Naegohyang Women's FC was captured from the AFC's website.

Yonhap reported all details of the planned trip, the legal requirements, the ministry's position on the unification flag and the earlier quarterfinal appearance in Laos.