Korean-Japanese journalists in Korea and Japan are 'not allowed to enter'
North Korea and Japan will have their fourth match of Group B of the second qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA North-Central America World Cup at Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The third match will be held in Japan on Sunday.
It is the first time in five years that the North Korean national soccer team will play an A-match on its home turf since the second qualifying round of the 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup against South Korea on October 15, 2019.
As in South Korea five years ago, Japan is also embarrassed by many restrictions ahead of the North Korean expedition.
The Japanese media "Sankei Shimbun" reported on the 19th, "28 Japanese reporters applied for the Japanese national team's visit to North Korea, but six media outlets including Korean and American journalists, including the Sankei Shimbun, which includes a third-generation Korean-Japanese reporter, were denied entry to North Korea."
"The North didn't even explain the reason for the rejection. However, we can only explain that the rejection was related to South Korea and the U.S. even though the North met all the detailed document standards requested," the media added.
South Korean reporters were not allowed to visit Pyongyang even during the 2019 inter-Korean war. In addition, since the right to broadcast the game could not be purchased due to UN sanctions on North Korea, it was conducted as a 'blind game' in which the game situation could not be checked in real time.
The same is true this time. Japan will also not be broadcast live to its home country, and it will be provided in a video edited by North Korea later.
The Football Zone, a Japanese media outlet, reported that an expedition to North Korea is not easy. Considering the 2011 Pyongyang expedition, the South Korean government should continue with the mindset that it is going to space.
Meanwhile, Japan leads the group with two wins (six points) in Group B of the second qualifying round for the North-China World Cup, while North Korea ranks second with one win and one loss (three points).