Sport in North Korea

North Korea has a blend of both traditional and western sports in which the country participates.

Arirang

Perhaps the most well known sporting event in North Korea is the annual Arirang Festival, held at Rungnado May Day Stadium in Pyongyang on April 15 of every year in celebration of the birthdate of Kim il-Sung.

The main attraction of Arirang is the mass gymnastics display, a vast performance featuring tens of thousands of performers performed with an accompaniment of card-turning mosaic performers occupying seats in the stands directly across from spectators. Often, performers (including card-turners) outnumber the spectators during these displays.

In May 2002, an Arirang performance, thought to be the largest ever produced in North Korea, featured 100,000 participants, a number that was twice the number of spectators, that was initiated in honor of Kim Jong-il's 60th birthday. This performance was open to foreigners, a rarity, and critics claimed that the extravaganza was an effort to distract from the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which was being co-hosted by South Korea.

Football

In 1966, the national football team advanced to the FIFA World Cup held in England. After sixteen teams withdrew from qualifying in the Asian/African Zone, the North Korean team was left with a two-game series against Australia in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The North Koreans won both games and qualified for the World Cup.

In the nation's only World Cup experience to date, the unfancied "Chollima" stumbled initially, losing 3-0 to the Soviet Union, but managed to draw with Chile in their second game after scoring on a penalty kick late in the game, which kept the team alive for advancement. The North Koreans shocked the world when Pak Doo-Ik scored in the 41st minute against heavily favoured Italy for the only goal of the game as "Chollima" shocked the "Azzurri", 1-0, securing advancement for North Korea.

In the quarterfinal round, the North Koreans again played the role of underdog, facing one of the greatest Portugal teams ever assembled, but again the Koreans shocked the world, as a goal in the first minute of the game propelled the team to a 3-0 lead over the European side only 24 minutes into the game. It took a four-goal effort by Eusébio to pull the Portuguese back into the game, and Portugal eventually won, 5-3.

"Chollima" withdrew from qualifying in two of the next three qualification rounds, and have not returned to the World Cup finals since.

Recently, the women's football team has seen more success on the national stage than the men's side, qualifying for the 1999 and 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. In 1999, the team defeated Denmark during the group stage, and in 2003 defeated African champions Nigeria. The team has established itself as one of the dominant Asian sides, winning the 2001 and 2003 AFC Women's Asian Cups after finishing as the runner-up in 1993 and 1997.

North Korea has domestic leagues for both men and women, and all games take place at Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang. Traditionally powerful teams in the men's league include April 25, Pyongyang Municipal, and Rimyongsu.

North Korea in the Olympics

North Korea's first Summer Olympics appearance on its own was in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, taking home five medals, including one gold. Four years later, in Montreal, the nation took one gold and one silver in boxing, and took five medals in boxing, freestyle wrestling, and weightlifting in Moscow. In 1984, the nation joined the Eastern bloc boycott of the Los Angeles Games, and four years later, boycotted the Games held in Seoul due to the South's unwillingness to co-host the event with the North. Despite a mostly unified Communist boycott in 1984, only Cuba joined the North Korean boycott in 1988.

The nation returned to Olympic competition in 1992 at the Barcelona Games, winning an unprecedented nine medals in Spain, four of them gold.

At the Athens Games in 2004, the North and South marched together in the opening and closing ceremonies under the Unification Flag, but competed separately. North Korea has medaled in every Olympics they have participated in.

North Korean athletes have competed in several Winter Olympics competitions as well, first competing at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. Pil-Hwa Han took silver medal in the women's 3000 meters of speed skating at the game. Another North Korean Winter Olympic medal was a bronze in 1992 at the Albertville Games when Ok-Sil Hwang took third place in the women's 500 meters of short-track speed skating. The North and South again marched under the Unification Flag at the Torino Games in 2006.

Cinema

Two English language documentaries have been created by British filmmaker Daniel Gordon involving North Korean sport.

The 2002 film "The Game of Their Lives" details the seven surviving members of the 1966 World Cup team.

The 2004 film "A State of Mind" follows two child gymnasts and their families as they prepare for the 2003 Arirang Festival.