It is known that all contracts were terminated and returned to North Korea without finding a team to accommodate North Korean soccer player Han Kwang-seong. UN Security Council sanctions stating the repatriation of North Korean workers blocked not only Han Kwang-seong, but all football players overseas activities. This is Taek-Sung Oh.
A player in red uniform who took over the ball from Jungwon.
With the defender blocking him in front, he gently turns the ball in the opposite direction and kicks the ball vigorously between the two defenders and pushes the ball into the goal.
[녹취: 현지 중계방송 중(지난 2020년 2월)] “Han Kwang, Han Kwang, Han Kwang, Han Kwang! Goal!!!!]
The name that the excited announcer shouts out loud is Han Kwang-seong, a North Korean soccer player called’People Ronaldo’.
Han Kwang-sung finally returned to North Korea after his performance in the Qatar League team’Al Duhaiil’ in the 2020 season.
Marco Bagochi of Italy, a North Korean sports expert, told the VOA that he had contacted Han Kwang-sung directly with the management agency. He said that due to UN Security Council sanctions, Han Kwang-seong was unable to find a team to play and was forced to return to North Korea.
Mr. Bagochi said that Han Kwang-sung had been looking for a new overseas league team until last November, and that the real Malaysian league’s’Selangor FC’ and’Al Duhail’ had negotiated for a lease for him, but it was not finally successful. .
In the end, it is explained that’Al Duhail’ ended all contracts with Han Kwang-sung, and Han Kwang-seong, who could not save the team, returned to North Korea.
Mr. Bagochi also said that Han Gwang-seong was unable to enter North Korea due to the current coronavirus outbreak, and that he plans to enter North Korea through China soon.
In addition to his excellent soccer skills, Han Kwang-sung has attracted great interest due to the fact that he has been subject to sanctions by the Security Council that prevented the North Korean regime from creating nuclear development funds.
Security Council Resolution 2397 stipulated that all North Korean workers dispatched overseas should be repatriated, while the Expert Panel of the Sanctions Committee on North Korea also included North Korean athletes who are active overseas, including Han Kwang-seong.
In the annual report released in September last year, the panel of experts said that Han Kwang-sung, who signed a five-year contract with Al Duhail, for about $5.25 million, and Choi Sung-hyuk, who made $24,000 from the Italian team Arezzo, and the Austrian League. Three people, including Park Kwang-ryong, who played in the game, were designated as North Korean workers for repatriation.
All three of these players are from Pyongyang International Football School, which North Korea created in 2013.
The Pyongyang International Football School was created to improve North Korean soccer players’ skills and advance overseas, and Chairman Kim Jong-un showed great interest.
This is the report of the North Korean government’Chosun Joongang TV’ at the time of opening.
[조선중앙 TV 보도 내용 중(지난 2013년)] “Pyongyang International Football School aims to cultivate soccer talent who will challenge the world-class level by breaking through the top level in Asian soccer in the near year. Our students can learn in a country with a high level of soccer.”
Through a long-term strategy, the actual North Korean soccer players studied abroad and even dispatched overseas leagues, but sanctions destroyed everything.
In a phone call with the VOA on the 26th, Jason Bartlett, a researcher at the New American Security Center, said the news of Han Kwang-sung’s return to North Korea is symbolic.
[녹취: 바틀렛 연구원] “I would categorize that as a win and a success for UN sanctions against North Korea, although it would come a little late.”
Researcher Bartlett said the repatriation of Han Kwang-sung was delayed, but in the end, the UN sanctions could be considered successful. He said his return is significant as Han Kwang-sung has earned millions of dollars in funding for the North Korean regime.
[녹취: 바틀렛 연구원] “Because athletes especially from North Korea serve as the only interaction that foreign nationals have with North Koreans, this is also a loss for North Korea not just financially, but also in terms of its soft power.”
Researcher Bartlett also said that North Korean athletes working abroad are the only group in which foreigners can interact with North Koreans, and Han Kwang-sung’s return is a loss in terms of’soft power’ as well as financially.
This is Taekseong Oh, VOA News.