North Korea head coach Park Sung-jin encourages his players after the match. [Yonhap]
North Korea head coach Park Sung-jin encourages his players after the match. [Yonhap]

Park Sung-jin, head coach of the North Korean women's football team at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, showed visible irritation Monday when reporters pressed him about the inter-Korean match, drawing a firm line by saying his side does not view South Korea as a special opponent.

Park made the remarks at a post-match news conference after North Korea drew 1-1 with South Korea in their third Group F match at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa in Fukuroi, Shizuoka Prefecture, according to Yonhap.

Asked what he had told his players ahead of the match against South Korea, Park said, "We played football. Whoever the opponent is, you play according to the team. That is all I have to say."

When a reporter asked whether he had shaken hands with South Korea head coach Shin Sang-woo after the final whistle, Park gave a similarly terse reply: "We played football. I have nothing more to say."

As an interpreter began elaborating on the question, Park cut in with undisguised annoyance. "What a strange question," he said. "We played football. Football."

When another reporter followed up with a similar line of questioning, Park raised his voice. "I don't think of them as special. I see all opponents the same way — Myanmar, Bangladesh, everyone we've faced in the group. Reporters, please don't ask me questions like that."

The tension eased when a South Korean reporter asked whether football meant more to him than just playing and going home.

Park laughed and said, "What else would we do but play football? We will play hard and go home. Nothing other than football."

Park also expressed gratitude for the support from ethnic Koreans in Japan, saying the enthusiastic cheering from members of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan had been "a great source of strength and encouragement" for the team. About 200 supporters from across Japan attended the match wearing red T-shirts to cheer on North Korea.


chami@heraldcorp.com