North Korea weirds up the World Cup

Sat Jun 19 11:15am EDT

North Korea weirds up the World Cup

By Richard Whittall

The elusive North Korea fan

How do you solve a problem like North Korea?

On the one hand, the team representing Kim Jong Il's brutally repressive state is providing one of the World Cup's most interesting storylines.  Not much is known of this team; unlike the other thirty-one nations competing in South Africa, North Korea's players are little seen outside of their international appearances.

Their "star" is striker Jong Tae-se, the North Korean "Wayne Rooney" (perhaps not the most flattering of comparisons anymore), born to South Korean parents and currently living in Japan.  This is a player who cries during the DPRK anthem yet enjoys expensive shoes and cars in a foreign country. He is likely a source of profound fascination for his infinitely less fortunate teammates who must return north of the demilitarized zone, and is just one example of the sometimes bizarre and contradictory nature of this squad.

In a sense, North Korea are an underdog's underdog.  They evoke memories of the North Korean wonderteam at the 1966 World Cup.  They have a bizarre fan from Portsmouth who travels to all their international games.  They trained in a public gym in Johannesburg ahead of the Brazil match because of lack of funds for facilities.  And, two goals down to one of the best sides in World Cup history, a hitherto unknown Ji Yun Nam managed to score a memorable goal against five-time winners Brazil.  If you're going to ironically support a weird but "plucky" nation at this World Cup, North Korea will be your first choice.

Except it's hard not to feel a gnawing unease when reading the joke DPRK team Twitter account, with missives in all-caps announcing things like, "AFTER LASTS NIGHTS EXERTIONS THE PLAYERS HAVE A DAY OFF TODAY, THEY WILL BE MAINLY PAINTING PORTRAITS OF OUR DEAR LEADER, KIM JONG IL."  The grain of truth here—that the players are Kim's propaganda puppets, tools of a viciously oppressive Stalinist government that won't let its own citizens leave the country to watch the team play—adds an uncomfortable pause before the laughter.

There is further discomfort with FIFA's insistence that North Korea's participation in South Africa 2010 be all about sport and not about politics.  It's a laudable sentiment, but near impossible considering the team's combative and strictly controlled press conferences, in which only questions about the "DPRK" and not "North Korea" are answered.  Nor would politics ever be far from the minds of speculating journalists after four North Korean players were listed as absent from the Brazil game, presumed defected. 

The country's mere presence in South Africa provides a case study in the tricky relationship between sports and politics.  Even so, it's worth remembering that despite the team's insistence they are playing for "Dear Leader," the team's accomplishments during the ninety minutes on the pitch are the players' and the players' alone.  It's them the neutrals will remember, not the brutal regime that oversees every aspect of their lives at home.  That's something, at least in the moment, worth supporting.    

Photo Credit: Getty Images 

 

Source: yahoo.ca