North Korea's Naegohyang Wins AFC Women's Champions League, Omits South Korean Context

North Korea's Naegohyang women's football team has secured the championship title in the 2025-2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Champions League, defeating Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza 1-0 in the final match held on May 23.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported the victory, hailing it as a significant achievement. The agency stated, "Our country's Naegohyang team ranked first in the 2025-2026 AFC Women's Club Championship and lifted the honorary championship trophy." KCNA framed the win as a proud accomplishment that provides "victory conviction and great encouragement to all the people of the country who are tirelessly ushering in an era of great prosperity for our nation, upholding the decisions of the 9th Party Congress."

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Our country's Naegohyang team ranked first in the 2025-2026 AFC Women's Club Championship and lifted the honorary championship trophy.

However, the KCNA's report notably excluded several key details. It did not mention that the final match took place at the Suwon Sports Complex in South Korea. Furthermore, it omitted information about the joint cheering squad organized by South Koreans to support the North Korean team.

The report also did not include details from the post-match press conference with coach Ri Yu-il and player Kim Gyeong-yeong. During that conference, Ri Yu-il expressed displeasure when a South Korean journalist used the term "North side," demanding the "state name be called correctly" before abruptly leaving the press conference.

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The proud match results achieved by the Naegohyang women's football players provide victory conviction and great encouragement to all the people of the country who are tirelessly ushering in an era of great prosperity for our nation, upholding the decisions of the 9th Party Congress.

North Korean media had previously referred to South Korean teams in a more descriptive manner. In a report on the semi-final match on May 20 against Suwon FC Women, the team was identified as "Suwon team of South Korea." The KCNA detailed the team's path to the finals, mentioning victories against Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City team and South Korea's Suwon team with scores of 3-0 and 2-1, respectively, in the quarter-final and semi-final matches held on March 29 and May 20.

The victory was also covered on the third page of North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper, focusing primarily on the match details. The report highlighted Kim Gyeong-yeong's goal around the 44th minute, the team receiving the championship trophy and gold medals, Kim Gyeong-yeong receiving the MVP award, and included six photos of the team celebrating and playing.

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Call the country's name correctly.