By Jung Da-min
Workers from the two Koreas played rare soccer matches at Sangam World Cup Stadium, Seoul, on Saturday. About 20,000 citizens gathered to cheer them.
Two matches were played, first between South Korean members of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and North Korean construction workers from the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea (GFTUK).
This was followed by a match between South Korean members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and North Korean light industry workers from GFTUK.
The crowd enjoyed the games regardless of who won or lost. Instead of shouting "Dae-han Minguk," which means Republic of Korea in English, they shouted "Tong-il Jo-guk," which means unified homeland. North Korean teams won both games 3-1 and 2-0.
The last such games were played in October 2015.
Saturday's games marked the first civilian exchange in the implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration at the inter-Korean summit on April 27.
At Saturday's games, a large flag with a map of the Korean peninsula covered the stands. The crowd also held placards in white and red to create the huge words, "We are one."
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, together with North Korea's GFTUK chief Ju Yong-gil, and Kim Myoung-hwan and Kim Ju-young, heads of South Korea's two major umbrella labor groups KCTU and FKTU, also watched the games.
The 64-member North Korean delegation, led by Ju, arrived in South Korea on Friday and was scheduled to return to the North later today (Sunday).
Subscribe
E-Paper
