North Korea’s national football team were given a public dressing down when they returned home after their World Cup exit. Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that the players were forced to endure a humiliating six hour session of criticism from sports commentators, athletes, students and politicians.
North Korea lost all three of their matches in South Africa but had turned up with few outside of the secretive Communist state expecting them to escape the “Group of Death”. It was the first time the nation had qualified for the World Cup finals since 1966.
After an impressive showing against Brazil in their first match, the Chollima were thumped 7-0 by Portugal, as shown in our video. There were rumours that the heavy defeat came after direct orders were issued by Kim Jong-Il to adopt an attacking strategy that would have been against conventional wisdom.
The rout was reportedly part of the agenda when the players took to the stage in the People’s Palace of Culture on their return. Ri Dong-Kyu, a commentator on the state TV station which chose the Portugal match as it’s first ever live broadcast, led the criticism, highlighting the mistakes of each player in the team.
Only two of the squad, Japanese-born duo Jong Tae-Se and Ang Yong-Hak were missing from the public meeting which, a source told RFA, lasted six hours and included ideological criticism. At the end of the session, the players were made to voice their criticism of their manager, Kim Jong-Hun.
The national team coach is rumoured to have been expelled from the Communist Party and sent to work on a building site in the country’s capital city Pyongyang as punishment.
A source from South Korea’s intelligence community told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper: "In the past, North Korean athletes and coaches who performed badly were sent to prison camps.
“Considering the high hopes North Koreans had for the World Cup, the regime could have done worse things to the team than just reprimand them for their ideological shortcomings."
