South Korea's plan to send female football players to Pyongyang for the AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifying matches does not violate international sanctions against North Korea, a government official said Friday.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Group B qualifying games will be held in North Korea from April 3-11. South Korean players will have a match with their North Korean counterparts on April 7.
This file photo taken on Feb. 29, 2016, shows a female football match between South and North Korea in Japan. (Yonhap)
"South Korean players' plan to visit Pyongyang is part of sports activities for an international event," Lee Duk-haeng, spokesman at Seoul's unification ministry, told a regular press briefing. "So, the move has nothing to do with sanctions against North Korea (over its nuclear and missile programs)."
Lee said that the country's football governing body has yet to ask the government to approve the players' bid to visit North Korea for the matches.
"There are documents that should be submitted to gain government approval for the trip to North Korea," he added. "We expect that (the football association) will likely turn them in soon."
The government has requested that North Korea send a document ensuring the safety of South Korean football players for the games, a ministry official earlier said.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) is believed to have delivered the government's request to the AFC, which in turn conveyed it to North Korea.
After North Korea issues the document, the KFA will be able to ask the government to approve the players' plan to visit North Korea.
The ministry earlier hinted that it will probably approve their trip to the North, saying that the issue would be handled in accordance with international regulations.
But the government remained reserved toward a cheering squad's possible trip to the North, given heightened inter-Korean tension.
Seoul has suspended almost all civilian inter-Korean exchanges since Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January 2016.
If female football players are allowed to go to North Korea, it would mark the first time that the two Koreas will hold an official football match in Pyongyang. Previously, the two sides held only friendly football games in the North's capital. (Yonhap)