If there was one big unknown for South Korean soccer heading into the 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup Asian qualifiers, it was facing North Korea. The team traveled to Pyongyang under all sorts of adverse conditions, but the trip was marred by North Korea’s refusal to travel to Seoul. But what about the Asian qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics? Would North Korea travel to South Korea if they met in the 2024 AFC Qatar U-23 Asian Cup regional qualifiers?
The AFC announced the draw for the regional qualifiers for the 2024 AFC Qatar U-23 Asian Cup on its website on July 22. The draw will take place at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 25 at 5pm.
A total of 43 national teams from AFC member associations will compete in the Asian Cup Regional Qualifiers, which will be divided into 11 groups to determine the 16-team field at the Asian Cup. South Korea is one of the 11 host nations, meaning that the Hwang Sun-hong-led Korean U-23 national team will be playing as the home team.
But among the 43 teams that have announced their intentions to compete, one team stands out. North Korea. According to AFC officials, the draw for the Asian Cup’s regional qualifiers has not yet taken into account the possibility of a separate qualifier for South Korea and North Korea.
UEFA has a special rule that Russia and Ukraine, Armenia and Azerbaijan, which are in serious conflict for political and diplomatic reasons, are not
In recent years, however, North Korea has been keen to qualify for the Paris Olympics and the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. They’ve been banned from the World Cup for a while, but have no problem qualifying for these events. With this decision, the possibility of traveling to South Korea has also resurfaced. It’s an extremely unlikely scenario, given the odds of the regional qualifying draw, which will split the teams into eleven groups.
placed in the same group before the draw, but the AFC has not yet made this calculation. Therefore, it is not impossible that Hwang Sun-Hong will face North Korea in the regional qualifiers.Since the regional qualifiers will be held in South Korea, North Korea would have to travel to South Korea to play in the group. The problem is that inter-Korean relations are currently very strained.
North Korea has already caused a stir by refusing to travel to South Korea. As mentioned earlier, during the second qualifying round of the 스포츠토토 World Cup in Qatar, South Korea traveled to North Korea with a number of key players, including Son Heung-min. The game was played in front of no spectators and in a brutal atmosphere. After the game, which ended in a scoreless tie, Son Heung-min commented, “I’m just glad I came back without getting hurt.”
North Korea then decided to sit out all of their upcoming matches, including their upcoming trip to South Korea. North Korea’s abrupt departure from the World Cup qualifiers resulted in their disqualification from the 2026 FIFA World Cup United Asia Qualifiers.
North Korea’s abandonment of South Korea wasn’t limited to the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup in Qatar. When the 2019 East Asian Football Confederation (EAFF) E-1 Women’s Football Championship was held in Busan, South Korea, the North Korean women’s national team, a strong favorite to win the tournament, pulled out. In recent years, North Korean soccer has been extremely reluctant to step foot on South Korean soil.
In recent years, however, North Korea has been keen to qualify for the Paris Olympics and the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. They’ve been banned from the World Cup for a while, but have no problem qualifying for these events. With this decision, the possibility of traveling to South Korea has also resurfaced. It’s an extremely unlikely scenario, given the odds of the regional qualifying draw, which will split the teams into eleven groups.
In a recent interview with reporters at the Paju NFC, Hwang Sun-hong expressed the pressure of facing North Korea in the main draw of the Hangzhou Asian Games. Not only because of the political and diplomatic issues, but also because of North Korea’s rough playing manners, which would result in a bloodbath. But North Korea could be an obstacle on the road to Paris, too. It’s another headache for Hwang.
It would be a headache for North Korea to meet South Korea. If it were any other country, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they would consider withdrawing from the qualifiers once again if they were in the South Korean group. It’s not an easy decision for North Korea, which has been ostracized from the World Cup for some time, to make, as they would have no international stage to play on. Will South Korea and North Korea meet in the Asian Cup regional qualifiers in South Korea, and if that scenario plays out, will North Korea travel to South Korea?