A North Korean women’s football club plans to travel across the border to play a South Korean team later this month. The regional tournament will happen near Seoul and feature top athletes from across Asia. This rare sporting event brings the two rival nations together on the football pitch for a highly anticipated game.
The Korea Football Association shared the official match schedule on Monday morning. Officials said Naegohyang Women’s FC will travel to Suwon, a busy city located about 30 kilometers south of Seoul. The North Korean team will face Suwon FC Women in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League. The referee will blow the starting whistle at exactly 7 p.m. on May 20 inside Suwon Stadium.
This upcoming game marks a historic moment for regional sports. A North Korean women’s club team has never played a professional match on South Korean soil before. The Asian Football Confederation contacted South Korean sports officials on Friday to confirm the travel plans.
A large manufacturing company sponsors the North Korean club and gives the team its official name. The organization will bring exactly 27 players and 12 staff members to the tournament. The 39 people in the travel group plan to fly through Beijing before they land at Incheon International Airport on May 17.
North Korean athletes have visited the South for football before, but mostly for national team events or youth games. Back in October 2018, South Korea hosted a 6-nation tournament for boys under 15. Two North Korean sports clubs crossed the border to play in that event. Before that, the North Korean women’s national team traveled south in 2005 and 2013 to compete in the East Asian Football Federation Championship.
South Korea hosted that same East Asian competition again in 2019 and 2025. Both times, North Korea decided to withdraw from the events entirely. However, the North Korean women’s national team did show up for the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. They played hard and beat Japan to win the gold medal.
The two club teams playing this month already know each other very well. Naegohyang defeated Suwon FC Women with a dominant 3-0 score during a group match on November 12. The teams played that earlier game in Myanmar. Naegohyang finished second in Group C and advanced easily to the knockout rounds.
In the quarterfinals, the North Korean club completely shut down Ho Chi Minh City Women’s FC. They won that important game 3-0. Naegohyang had the option to host that match at home, but the team leaders refused. The teams traveled to Laos and played at a neutral stadium instead.
The North Korean squad features a lot of elite young talent. Several Naegohyang players recently helped their country win major international titles. They lifted the massive trophy at the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup. A few players also won the 2025 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
The other side of the tournament bracket features two completely different countries. Melbourne City FC from Australia will play Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza from Japan. Those two clubs will kick off their match at 2 p.m. on May 20 at Suwon Stadium.
Organizers will hold a large press conference in Suwon on the day before the games begin. Coaches and players from all 4 semifinal teams will answer questions from local and international sports reporters. The winning teams will stay in the city to play the championship match at 2 p.m. on May 23.
This year marks only the second time officials have run the Asian Women’s Champions League. North Korea did not send a club to the first tournament last year. An Incheon team represented South Korea in that earlier event but lost to Melbourne City FC in the semifinals.
