Sports exchanges

We are always looking for sports teams to take into Korea and can arrange friendly and competitive matches with a variety of local organisations; many sports are played to a decent or high level in North Korea and a tour by a basketball team, a martial arts squad, a ping pong delegation, or even a chess team would be very worthwhile and welcome in the country, very newsworthy for the teams taking part as well. Contact us with any ideas or sports trips; none are too wacky to be considered!

 

The following are a few of the events we have orgainised:

 

Football

Friendship matches: We are very proud to have been the first to organise friendly football tours in North Korea, we have operated several of these tours and truly believe that if football is the true language of the world (well, most countries at least!) then arranging games between locals and visitors creates a meaningful dialogue which resonates with all the participants long after the final whistle. The teams we have taken include a Beijing-based Irish side, a team of expats from Hong Kong, a Dutch team, and a team of Europeans based in Singapore. For each game or tournament we arrange picnics with the opposing Korean team as well as kick-abouts with mixed squads. We have also arranged a five-a-side tournament involving Koreans, tourists, NGO staff, diplomats, men, women, etc, some fit and some fat - some stretching whilst others are smoking and drinking for their warm up....the reactions from those who participate and even just passers by who stop to watch has to be seen to be believed! If you play for a team that would be interested in a trip to Pyongyang to partake of the beautiful game then please drop us a line, it is an experience never forgotten!

Football Coaching: In August 2007 English tourist Chris Hayes travelled with us to the DPRK to coach a local school team

 

 

Cricket

During the May Day Holiday 2008 we organized the first ever cricket match in the DPRK! The match was held in Taesongsan Park and comprised of the Juche Team & Reunification team (both made up of members from Shanghai cricket club) and the Pyongyang Cricket Club – newly formed for the event. The latter was made up of 4 Koreans who had never played or seen cricket before, the Koryo Tours’ staff, a few tourists and a delegate from the British Embassy in Pyongyang. The event, which was supported by the DPRK Ministry of Sport, was sponsored by DHL who paid for the shipment of a roll of coconut matting from the UK to Pyongyang. The match went superbly. The opening batsmen were 2 Koreans who played incredibly well especially considering they had only picked up a cricket bat once before at a practice in Moranbong park a few days earlier. Picnic lunch was provided by accordion-playing waitresses and after the 2nd match we had a traditional cucumber sandwich tea. Despite not getting the highest scores, the PCC were the clear winners that day (trophy in the Koryo Tours’ office!). The day rounded off with a sunset boat trip along the Taedonggang followed by a black-tie dinner in the Yanggakdo Revolving Restaurant.

 

 

Volleyball

A Dutch volleyball team in 2008 made their mark on Pyongyang by taking on some local teams (as well as some people in the park!) in a series of closely-fought contests. What the Koreans lacked in height they made up for in well-honed teamwork and each and every match was a close one. Volleyball is probably the sport most participated in by DPRK urban residents, with every company having a team, and people using their lunch-breaks to have a game between themselves. This tour gave an excellent chance for local people to test their skills against visitors and bond over a shared love of the sport. A very worthwhile and fun trip; we hope to take more volleyball teams in the future.

 

Ice Hockey

Another first in 2008! Pyongyang Ice rink is the only place in the country where competitive ice hockey can take place and we finally managed to arrange for a team of Canadian and Scandinavian expats based in Beijing to make the trip and take on two DPRK teams in a series of competitive matches. No holds were barred as the bigger, stronger visitors took on the faster, wilier locals in some very hard fought matches. The audience of local Koreans will not soon forget these games and we are very grateful to all involved who made this possible, it was our hardest sports event thus far to organise and was a genuine coup to pull off. At the end of the matches jerseys were swapped and everyone came away having learned new techniques. Take note Ice-Hockey enthusiasts; North Korea’s women play at a higher level than the men (as they do in football also), a tour by a foreign women’s team would be even more groundbreaking! Click Here >

 

 

Golf

June 2004 was our first Pyongyang Friendship Golf tournament - odd we know - but in our experience it is from projects like these that all sorts of positive links can develop. As with anywhere else, business can be done on the golf course and lifelong friends made during the struggle from the tee to the green. Make sure you avoid the goats that cut the grass on Pyongyang’s one and only full sized course; an unexpectedly well laid-out and aesthetically pleasing course, an added incentive could be to aim for the course record, held by a now-retired Korean, of a few shots over par (don’t believe the rumours, according to the club no Leader has even been to the course) certainly possible for higher level players. We have since organised other golfing events. Also, the course is open to tourists and anyone visiting the country can request to have it added to the itinerary – a rare ‘good walk spoiled’ in the most unlikely of settings!

 

 

Sports Related Articles

 

Beijing Celtic FC chase the craic in Pyongyang (The Guardian)

 

Beijing Celtic in North Korea (Irish Times)

 

Red Cross lays on the half-time drinks in Pyongyang (Sunday Telegraph)

 

Click here for a link to newspaper reports about the football tours.