Asia Angle: Can football unite South & North Korea?

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  • North Korea and South Korea last met in the 2015 East Asian Cup.

    During the 1998 famine in North Korea, Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung drove 500 fattened cattle across the border from the south. A soldier from the DPRK unbolted a chain and the gates opened and there was Chung, welcomed by the communist regime to become the first civilian to cross the border without government escort for over half a century. Seventeen years on and his nephew Chung Mong-gyu, the president of the Korean Football Association, was in Pyongyang. He did not have quite the same success.

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    Chung the younger went to the other side of the 38th Parallel trying to restore football ties, and maybe more, between two countries that are technically still at war. After a meeting of the East Asian Football Federation executive committee, Chung had a personal pow-wow with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Nam. It did not last so long.

    "Chung only had about 20 minutes with Ri, and they didn't get to discuss anything in depth," a KFA official told local media. "We should be able to have further discussions with North Korea on football exchanges."

    South Korea is interested in restarting the 'Unification Games', friendlies designed to promote friendliness and the last of which took place in 2005.

    Chung wouldn't be the first to try and make a difference though this is not quite the so-called 'ping-pong' diplomacy that took place before China and the United States restored relations in the early seventies. Then, two world powers found it convenient and mutually beneficial to move closer together. The two Koreas, however, have been glowering at each other over the demilitarised zone for decades and even sustained good relations can end suddenly with a single word, act or gesture.

    Football relations between north and south depend on, and reflect, how things are going in the real world. It was no coincidence that the exhibition games came into existence at a time when successive southern presidents were keen to build ties with the north with the non-threatening 'Sunshine Policy'. There were two main reasons why the friendly games ended after 2005. One was that relations between the neighbours cooled considerably and such non-vital exchanges are always one of the first to be cut. Then, after 12 prior years of no games, the two teams couldn't stop meeting in subsequent competitions.

    As well as the 2005 friendly, there were the 2005 and 2008 East Asian Cups and four meetings in qualification for the 2010 World Cup; a quartet of clashes that are forgettable on the pitch and memorable off it. The first game took place in Shanghai as the north refused to allow the southern anthem to be heard and the flag to fly in Pyongyang. It was an emotional night at the Hongkou Stadium as the two sets of fans met outside the arena, with the south – mostly students in China – massively outnumbering the north. Inside, there was barely a dry eye in the house as Park Ji-sung led his players over to the white-clad fans from Pyongyang, bowed and were applauded in return.

    There was less love on display after game four, the only fixture that did not end in a dull draw. After Kim Chi-woo gave the hosts a late 1-0 win in Seoul, the visiting coach Kim Jung Nam was not a happy man. Refusing to take questions at the post-match press conference, the trenchcoated tactician accused the Seoul authorities of poisoning his best players and then stormed out. The players were sick, it is true – sick of the sight of each other. Still, there was genuine pride in the south when North Korea qualified for the 2010 World Cup.

    In 2010, Park Ji-Sung bowed in front of the North Korea fans as a a sign of peace.

    That has been it in terms of full internationals, a low-key 2015 East Asian Cup goalless draw notwithstanding. Despite Chung's efforts, there does not seem to be much desire in the south to revive the games – partly due to the fact that they are almost always terrible to watch. There is also a reasonable chance that the pair will meet in the final round of qualification for the 2018 World Cup, making extra clashes even more unnecessary.

    In his search to leave alasting legacy across the divided border, Chung is learning that dealing with a North Korea that is not in the mood to deal with is an exercise in pure frustration. Football may be the world game and able to bring people together but making a difference on the Korean peninsula seems to be beyond even its power.

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