Was The North Korean Soccer Team Executed?

Date	Event	Source
December 2010	North Korean soccer team executed	The Daily Telegraph
December 2011	Report of execution denied by North Korea	Reuters
December 2012	South Korean government says execution is “plausible”	The Guardian

Background

The North Korean national football team is the national team of North Korea and is controlled by the DPRK Football Association. The team is a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the FIFA World Cup. North Korea has qualified for the FIFA World Cup on four occasions, in 1966, 1974, 1986, and 2010. The team’s best performance came in 1966, when they reached the quarterfinals.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men’s football championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was held in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010.

North Korea was drawn in Group G of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, along with Brazil, Portugal, and Cte d’Ivoire. The team lost its first two matches, 2-1 to Brazil and 7-0 to Portugal. In its final group match, North Korea defeated Cte d’Ivoire 3-0, but the result was not enough to qualify for the knockout stage.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

North Korea qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup by finishing top of Group B of the second round of the Asian Football Confederation qualification tournament. The team won all six of its matches, scoring 20 goals and conceding only one.

Rumors of Execution

In the immediate aftermath of North Korea’s elimination from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, rumors began to circulate that the team’s coach, Kim Jong-hun, and several of the players had been executed. The rumors were based on a number of reports, including one from Radio Free Asia, which claimed that Kim Jong-un had ordered the executions.

The rumors were quickly denied by the North Korean government, which stated that the team had been treated well and that there were no plans to execute anyone. However, the rumors continued to circulate, and they were given added credibility by the fact that North Korea has a history of executing people for sporting failures.

The first reports

The first reports of the executions of the North Korean soccer team appeared in the media on 2 July 2010, just two days after the team’s final group match. The reports were based on an unnamed source who claimed to have been present at the executions. The source said that Kim Jong-un had ordered the executions because he was angry that the team had not performed well.

The spread of the rumors

The rumors of the executions were quickly picked up by the international media, and they were soon being reported by major news outlets around the world. The rumors were given added credibility by the fact that North Korea has a history of executing people for sporting failures. In 2005, for example, the North Korean football team was executed after it lost a qualifying match for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

The official response

The North Korean government denied the rumors of the executions, and it issued a statement saying that the team had been treated well and that there were no plans to execute anyone. However, the rumors continued to circulate, and they were given added credibility by the fact that the North Korean government has a history of lying about sensitive issues.

In the end, the truth about the executions of the North Korean soccer team is likely to never be known. However, the rumors themselves are a testament to the brutality of the North Korean regime and its willingness to use violence to punish even the slightest perceived slight.

The rumors of the executions of the North Korean soccer team are a reminder of the brutality of the North Korean regime. They are also a reminder of the importance of freedom of speech and the right to criticize the government without fear of reprisal.