North Korea’s strictly controlled state television lifted a Cold War embargo late on Sunday by showing South Korea’s World Cup match against Italy, officials said.
A pirate recording of South Korea’s 2-1 victory over Italy on June 18 was aired nationwide by Korean Central TV, said the unification ministry in Seoul.
North Korea has shown other matches from the World Cup but has rarely shown the South Korean football or any sporting team since the 1950-53 Korean War.
”This was the first showing of South Korea’s national team since the World Cup began on May 31,” a ministry official said.
North Korea has illegally shown World Cup matches because it has not bought the rights to broadcast the games.
But the matches have been carefully chosen and edited so that none involving South Korea, Japan and the United States have been shown.
”A North Korea broadcaster mentioned South Korea’s celebration saying the victory over Italy boosted the morale of fans in the South,” said the ministry official.
He said it was not clear, however, whether the North had shown a giant slogan in the Daejeon stadium reminding Italy of its humiliating loss to North Korea at the World Cup finals in 1966.
North Korean state media had earlier broadcast details of South Korean football star Ahn Jung-Hwan’s World Cup goal celebration where he took a dig at the United States.
After scoring an equalising goal against the United States, Ahn celebrated by striking a speed-skating pose, a clear reference to a controversy at this year’s Salt Lake City Winter Olympics where a
South Korean skater was disqualified from gold in favour of an American opponent.
South Korea has been broadcasting its World Cup success live across the heavily fortified border to North Korean troops using propaganda speakers.
North Korea rejected approaches to stage World Cup matches as a peace gesture or to send observers to the tournament being held in South Korea and Japan.
But the North may send its football team to South Korean for a friendly match on September 8. – Sapa-AFP