World Cup 2010 Blog: North Korea’s Joyful Homecoming

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North Korea’s Joyful Homecoming Posted: 29 Jul 2010 10:00 AM PDT Life as a player for the North Korean national team is probably pretty difficult as it stands what with living through that 7-0 to Portugal and a much improved 3-0 loss in their final two games. Their passion for the motherland combined with their pride as athletes surely took a belting hit as they headed back to the land of mystery. Seems this was the least of their worries, as they were publicly humiliated for "betraying the trust of Kim Jong-un" – a phrase which is getting more and more play by the day. (Feels like I may have done the same at least twice during breakfast.) Of course it doesn’t help that the first ever live game showed in North Korea was that very same 7-0 loss, a move which seemed perfectly fine from the end of the Brazil match until the whistle starting the second half. It was at that point which the nuclear bomb went off and the team was left to rubble while serving as the fish in Portugal’s barrel. Hard to imagine a worse live debut. And this was their payback: Citing unnamed North Korean sources, RFA said the team were made to stand on a stage at the People's Palace of Culture on July 2, just three days after they returned from South Africa, and subjected to ideological criticism for six hours. The team's two Japanese-born players, Jong Tae-se and An Yong-hak, were exempt from the session. Around 400 officials including the vice minister of the Workers' Party, Sports Minister Pak Myong-chol, other athletes and sport students were apparently part of the audience. Ri Dong-kyu, a sports commentator for the North's state-run Korean Central TV, pointed out the mistakes of each player. "Coach Kim Jong-hun and the team's athletes were made to stand on a stage and other North Korean athletes and students took turns criticizing the players. At the end of the session the team members were made to criticize their coach," RFA quoted a source as saying. It sounds a bit harsh, but there are countries doing internal studies trying to determine whether or not they can get away with the very same. [Thanks to Marco for the tip.]

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