Swedish diplomat reveals video footage of inter-Korean World Cup qualifier in Pyeongyang
- 5 years ago
Football fans and media outlets could not watch the historic inter-Korean World Cup qualifier in Pyeongyang last night... which resulted in a goalless draw in an almost-empty stadium.
While the North promised to give a DVD of the footage to the South Korean side after the game,... the Swedish Ambassador to North Korea has released a glimpse of the historic match on Twitter.
Kan Hyeong-woo reports.
Nobody in South Korea has seen the full match footage of the inter-Korean World Cup qualifier in Pyeongyang.... but the Swedish Ambassador to North Korea has tweeted some short clips of the players lining up for each other's national anthem.
Posting the video footage after the match,... Ambassador Joachim Bergstrom said it was a "hopeful and historic moment" when the South Korean anthem was played at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyeongyang.
Another video released by the Swedish Ambassador showed some of the South and North Korean players getting into what appears to be a scuffle.
South Korea's captain and Tottenham Hotspur's star forward Son Heung-min was seen trying to calm down the North Korean players.
Regarding this video footage,... Ambassador Bergstrom said emotions run high at times as the two Koreas meet in a FIFA qualification match, but the audience is "sparse".
Pyeongyang kept the stands empty with no crowd at the match venue... which had been expected to be full of tens of thousands of North Korean fans.
The regime also denied access to any fans or reporters from the South and did not even allow foreign media or tourists to watch the match.
One of the few officials who attended the match, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, later expressed disappointment.
He said he was let down to see no fans in the stadium,… and was surprised by issues regarding the live broadcast and problems with access for foreign journalists.
The reasons for keeping the Kim Il-sung Stadium empty are still unknown.
After leaving Pyeongyang on Wednesday to catch a connecting flight from Beijing, the South Korean men's national football team will go their separate ways with some members arriving back at Incheon International Airport early Thursday.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News.
While the North promised to give a DVD of the footage to the South Korean side after the game,... the Swedish Ambassador to North Korea has released a glimpse of the historic match on Twitter.
Kan Hyeong-woo reports.
Nobody in South Korea has seen the full match footage of the inter-Korean World Cup qualifier in Pyeongyang.... but the Swedish Ambassador to North Korea has tweeted some short clips of the players lining up for each other's national anthem.
Posting the video footage after the match,... Ambassador Joachim Bergstrom said it was a "hopeful and historic moment" when the South Korean anthem was played at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyeongyang.
Another video released by the Swedish Ambassador showed some of the South and North Korean players getting into what appears to be a scuffle.
South Korea's captain and Tottenham Hotspur's star forward Son Heung-min was seen trying to calm down the North Korean players.
Regarding this video footage,... Ambassador Bergstrom said emotions run high at times as the two Koreas meet in a FIFA qualification match, but the audience is "sparse".
Pyeongyang kept the stands empty with no crowd at the match venue... which had been expected to be full of tens of thousands of North Korean fans.
The regime also denied access to any fans or reporters from the South and did not even allow foreign media or tourists to watch the match.
One of the few officials who attended the match, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, later expressed disappointment.
He said he was let down to see no fans in the stadium,… and was surprised by issues regarding the live broadcast and problems with access for foreign journalists.
The reasons for keeping the Kim Il-sung Stadium empty are still unknown.
After leaving Pyeongyang on Wednesday to catch a connecting flight from Beijing, the South Korean men's national football team will go their separate ways with some members arriving back at Incheon International Airport early Thursday.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News.