Soccer Friendly

[Anchor Lead]

A South Korean delegation of athletes and staff left for North Korea Friday to take part in an international youth soccer tournament set to be held next week. At the same time, a North Korean soccer delegation is arriving in South Korea to participate in an inter-Korean workers' soccer match, which will be held on Saturday.

[Pkg]

A delegation of young South Korean athletes and staff will visit (have visited) North Korea to take part in the Ari Sport Cup tournament for under 15s, which will be held in Pyongyang for six days starting August 13th. The Unification Ministry said on Thursday that it approved a trip to North Korea by a 151-member athletic team, which consists of 84 soccer players, and some 20 reporters and staff members. The soccer tournament is co-hosted by the South-North Sports Exchange Association and North Korea's April 25 Sports Club. The delegation is headed for Pyongyang via a western land route on Friday. They will then return home on August 19th using the same route. It marks the first time for such a large group of more than 100 South Korean civilians to travel to North Korea via an overland route since the Moon Jae-in government took office in May last year. It is also the first time in seven years since 2011 that South Koreans have visited Pyongyang using an overland route. Meanwhile, the ministry also approved a visit by a group of North Korean athletes to South Korea to participate in an inter-Korean workers' soccer match, which is set to be held in Seoul on Saturday. The 64-member North Korean team, including the head of the North Korean Trade Union, will arrive in Seoul (arrived in Seoul) on Friday morning through a western overland route. They will return to North Korea on Sunday after holding a soccer match with a South Korean team.