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North Korea Silently Cheers South Korea’s Victory
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The
Demilitarized Zone that separates the two countries
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NORTH
KOREA, June 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Despite the North
Korean’s state-run media efforts to avoid any mention that the World
Cup is being held across its borders on South Korean soil, football
fans in North Korea are following up, as much as they are allowed, the
World Cup and silently cheered for South Korean’s team victory over
Italy and Spain.
North
Korean’s main television bulletin on Saturday made no mention of
South Korea's victory over Spain, devoting itself instead to propagate
for the Arirang cultural festival in an attempt, as commentators see,
to upstage the World Cup, BBC online service reported.
North
Korean television has shown the football games without asking
permission or paying a fee. It has also displayed match schedules, but
consistently left out South Korea.
Regardless
of all the government efforts, football fans in North Korea are aware
of the progress of the southern team.
Diplomats
in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, told a South Korean news
agency that locals saw Korean signs displayed around the football
grounds and must have realized the Cup is being held in the South, BBC
said.
According
to Southern Korean newspapers, North Korean soldiers manning the
Demilitarized Zone that separates the two countries were cheering for
South Korea's squad as the South broadcasted commentaries of the games
and news of the World Cup across the border by loudspeakers.
They
actually cheered on Tuesday, June18, 2002, when Korean player Seol
Ki-Hyeon scored the equalizer in the Italian match, and Ahn Jung-Hwan
scored the golden goal in extra time," a South Korean military
source told one of the newspapers on Saturday.
Southern
officials have said North Korean television introduced only 15 of the
final 16 games, leaving South Korea out.
A
North Korean escapee told Yonhap: "North Korean residents regard
the blank space in the match schedule of international matches as
indicating South Korea. Even though the North Korean authorities have
not publicized South Korea's advance ... residents will naturally know
how well the South's team has fought a good fight."
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