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At the 2017 Ari Sports Cup in Pyongyang

Young soccer players from South and North Korea will be vying for supremacy in an international tournament to be held in Pyongyang from Aug. 13 to 18.

On Aug. 9, the South and North Korean Sports Exchange Association announced that the 4th Ari Sports Cup, an international soccer tournament for athletes below 15 years of age that is sponsored by KEB Hana Bank, would be held at Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang from Aug. 13 to 18. The athletes will be traveling to Pyongyang on the overland route along the West Sea (Gyeongui Line) on Aug. 10 and returning to Seoul along the same route on Aug. 19.

“The South Korean delegation, consisting of 151 people altogether, will be traveling along the overland route on the West Sea. This is the first time for people to travel on the overland route in the history of private-sector inter-Korean exchange,” said Kim Gyeong-seong, the association’s president.

Eight teams from six countries will be taking part in this tournament, which will be co-hosted by North Korea’s April 25 Sports Club. South and North Korea will both field two teams of young soccer players in the tournament, with Gangwon Province and Yeoncheon County teams representing the South and the 425 and Ryomyong teams representing the North. There will also be teams from Russia (Vladivostok), Belarus (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Uzbekistan (FC Bunyodkor) and China (Beijing).

After a qualifying round in which the teams compete in two groups, the top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals. A women’s soccer team sponsored by Hana Bank and composed of athletes from the Korea Women’s Soccer Federation will be accompanying the youngsters on their trip to the North. The opening ceremony will be held on Aug. 15 and the closing ceremony on Aug. 18, along with an awards ceremony.

The South and North Korean Sports Exchange Association has continued to organize youth soccer exchange events each year without interruption since 2006, with a total of 20 organized so far (12 in South and North Korea and eight in China). The organization has kept sports exchange alive even during times of high inter-Korean tensions. Teams of athletes from Gangwon and Gyeonggi provinces visited North Korea for the 2nd Ari Sports Cup in Aug. 2015, in the middle of a crisis over by a mine that went off in the DMZ and the subsequent installation of propaganda loudspeakers.

“Inter-Korean sports exchange is an effective means of dialogue that’s feasible under any circumstances, including UN sanctions. We’ll keep trying to play the role of promoting private-sector inter-Korean exchange,” said Kim, who also serves as chair of the tournament’s organizing committee.

By Kim Cham-geum, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]