A Meeting After Eight Years → A Humiliating One-Sided Unrequited Love: North Korea’s Hometown Never Even Glanced Our Way [Special Report]

*This content was translated by AI.

The South Korean visit of the North Korea squad, finally realized after eight years, concluded by reaffirming the cold reality of strained inter-Korean relations amid a frozen Korean Peninsula situation. The Korean club hosting the tournament in its home venue unilaterally bore all tangible and intangible losses, while the domestic support group, funded by national tax money, offered blind, one-sided support to the North Korea team, only to be met with the North Korea squad’s thorough coldness and arrogant rejection.

The biggest victim was Suwon FC Women, representing South Korea, which was supposed to compete fairly for the title of Asia’s strongest team. Suwon FC Women suffered the paradoxical disadvantage of enjoying none of the home-field advantages in the inaugural tournament, a true showdown between professional clubs with a prize money of 1 million dollars (approximately 1.52 billion won) at stake. Although it was initially planned for both teams to share the A Hotel in Suwon, a series of accommodation allocation mishaps ultimately resulted in the home team, Suwon FC Women, having to vacate the entire hotel for the visiting North Korea club and move their belongings to the B Hotel.

Stadium operations were also strictly focused on the convenience and regulations of the North Korea squad, forcing the home team to endure non-game-related stress. To accommodate a media contingent of over 120 people, Suwon Sports Complex established a separate press conference venue and expanded the press seating area to the second floor, while also strictly separating VIP routes.

While the home team bore all regulations and losses, a distorted, one-sided support battle unfolded in the stands. Over 200 organizations, including civic group coalitions, issued statements explaining that they were a "joint support group cheering for both teams" in response to public criticism, yet at the stadium, they used funds totaling 300 million won from the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Fund to unilaterally chant exclusively for the North Korea team. During Suwon FC Women’s attacks in the semi-finals, the stands fell into a deathly silence, only erupting into massive cheers when North Korea launched attacks.

The bizarre "joint" support behavior continued. When Suwon FC Women’s captain Ji So-yun missed a penalty kick in the final moments of the second half, an unbelievable scene unfolded where the crowd, acting like visiting team supporters, simultaneously cheered and celebrated. Suwon FC Women’s head coach Park Gil-young, unable to compose himself, expressed his frustration, stating, "We are the South Korean national football team. We were upset throughout the match."

Behind this tearful one-sided love was support from a government-affiliated organization. According to Suwon FC officials, the joint support group that attended the final match numbered 1,800 people. A representative from the Association for Support of Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation, speaking to StarNews at the final match venue, revealed, "Based on financial support from the Ministry of Unification, we separately deployed a staff of 40 to 50 people on-site and distributed cheering sticks and balloons free of charge. We even hired a dedicated cheerleading squad to boost the morale of the Hometown team." Even before the final match, a commotion occurred when unauthorized banners bearing folk song lyrics such as "My Hometown Is a Flower-Blooming Mountain Valley" from the song "Spring in My Hometown" were suddenly hung up, only to be forcibly confiscated by security personnel.

However, the North Korea squad, which received treatment far beyond what was warranted by national tax money, not only showed no gratitude but consistently maintained an arrogant and cold attitude, thoroughly ignoring the South Korean side. When asked at a press conference whether he had any regrets regarding the South Korean support group, head coach Ri Yu-il responded coldly, "We were only concerned with football, the championship, and our development. There was no reason to concern ourselves with other matters," flatly dismissing the support group that had cheered loudly for them. They even went so far as to become offended by the natural expression "North Korean side" used by domestic media, unilaterally halting the press conference and storming out of the venue in arrogant fashion.

The players’ behavior was equally absurd. Currently, North Korea players are registered only by their English names, making it difficult to ascertain their exact Korean names. Even the captain who scored the winning goal, Kim Kyung-myong, had a name that was not precisely known, to the extent that a Korea Football Association official had to compare past video interviews to estimate it. After the match, when domestic media personnel called out "Player Kim Kyung-myong" in the mixed zone to confirm his identity and hear his comments, the player simply stared at the reporters without uttering a single word, coldly walked past the scene, and boarded the bus. All interview requests from the South Korean media were rejected without exception.

The victory ceremony they performed on the home ground after the match was nothing short of bizarre. As soon as the championship was secured, they unfurled a large North Korean flag they had prepared in advance, circled the entire field, and bizarre scenes continued where the joint support group and general spectators, who had offered one-sided support, responded with standing ovations and cheers. Despite having drawn a completely cold and rigid line themselves, they performed a ceremony of waving the North Korean flag on South Korean soil, while the spectators cheered, creating a grotesque contrast.

Leaving behind the farcical scene of being thoroughly exploited, the Hometown squad departed through Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 at 3:30 p.m. on the 24th, maintaining stern expressions until the end. The only lingering bitter taste was the strange applause from those who saw them off, holding banners featuring both the South Korean and North Korean flags as they watched the North Korea squad’s bus leave the stadium.

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*This content was translated by AI.