World Cup qualifier in Pyongyang unlikely to be broadcast live: official

An inter-Korean World Cup qualifier in Pyongyang slated for next week is unlikely to be broadcast live amid the North's silence on the issue, a unification ministry official said Thursday.

North Korea is set to host the game Tuesday as the two Koreas were placed in the same group for the second round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, in what will be a rare sports exchange between the two sides.

(Yonhap)

The North, however, has remained silent on South Korea's offer to talk on the issues of sending a cheering squad and broadcasting the game live, the official said.

"We don't have many days left, physically speaking, and since there is no notable progress in discussions regarding the cheering squad or the broadcasting, it doesn't seem easy," the official said.

When South Korea sent its women's national team to Pyongyang for the Asian Football Confederation's Women's Asian Cup qualifying tournament in 2017, the match was broadcast on North Korean TV in an edited version days later. (Yonhap)