North Korea was banned from the 2015 women's World Cup and failed to qualify four years later. The country then went into a period of isolation during the pandemic, which prevented it from participating in the 2023 World Cup.

The North Korean women's youth sides, meanwhile, have continuously shown footballing prowess on the international stage. The under-20 squad won the country's first football World Cup in 2006, with North Korea emerging victorious from the inaugural under-17 women's World Cup two years later.

Kim Jong Un came to power in 2011 and, like his father and predecessor Kim Jong Il, made the development of competitive sport a key policy priority. He increased investment in sport significantly, overseeing the construction of sports facilities such as the Pyongyang International Football School.

Opened in 2013, this is a state-run elite training facility that aims to identify and develop talented young footballers for the country's national teams. Some of the best players from the current youth setup, including Yu Jong Hyang and Kim Won Sim, attended the school.

Any sporting victory on the global stage is important for the North Korean government as it helps boost nationalism among the country's people. In 2023, Kim Jong Un proclaimed:“It is a sacred duty of our athletes to raise our national flag high in foreign land.” Young North Korean women footballers have consistently performed this very act.

Jon Il Chong, who was announced as the best player at the under-17 women's World Cup in 2024, told reporters after North Korea's victory in the final:“It was the desire and honour of our team to give the respected fatherly marshal, Kim Jong Un, the report of pleasure and victory.” She added:“I will train harder and harder in the future so that I will demonstrate the honor of North Korea throughout the world.”

But Pyongyang's goal extends beyond boosting nationalism among its athletes. Two days after the 2025 under-17 women's final, the state-run Korean Central Television channel broadcast a delayed recording of the match on large outdoor screens in Pyongyang. Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers' party, described jubilant scenes across the capital.

“Even young mothers scolded their children to walk faster and stopped in front of the screens, holding them tight as they watched the match,” its report said.“The area around Pyongyang Station became a sea of ecstasy.”

North Korea's leadership tends to be viewed internationally as despotic and militaristic. In this context, even relatively minor international sporting events like the under-17 women's football World Cup present an opportunity for North Korea to project a more positive image of itself to the world. They also provide a channel for diplomatic dialogue.

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FIFA's webpage featured images and stories of the North Korean under-17 women's team following their win in Morocco, with a celebratory and congratulatory undertone throughout. Even in South Korea, a country with which North Korea maintains frosty relations, football fans shared their admiration for the North Korean team's success on social media.

Clearly, the dominance of North Korea's youth sides needs to be translated into the senior game for the state's sporting strategy to be fully successful. North Korean football players need to join prestigious professional leagues in the west, competing on a more visible platform against the best players in the world.

But due to UN economic sanctions imposed on the regime in Pyongyang, which were first levied in 2006 and have been tightened since, no homegrown North Korean footballer can sign a contract with a foreign football club. This creates a significant barrier to the development of North Korean football beyond the youth level moving forward.

It remains to be seen whether North Korea can regather its past momentum and qualify for the senior women's World Cup in Brazil in 2027. But, for now, North Korea's footballing dominance seems limited to the youth ranks.

Jung Woo Lee is a senior lecturer in sport and leisure policy, University of Edinburgh.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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