N.Korea said to want qualifier with S.Korea moved

May 6, 2008

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North Korea want to relocate next month's World Cup qualifier against South Korea away from Seoul, a South Korean football official said Tuesday.

The first inter-Korean qualifier was moved from the North's capital Pyongyang to Shanghai after the North refused to let South Korea play their national anthem and fly their flag at the match.

That game on March 26 ended in a goalless draw. The Koreas face each other again on June 22.

“There has been no official request but we heard that the North wants to hold the second match again in Shanghai,” a Korea Football Association (KFA) official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

South Korean officials say they want to stick to the original venue.

“We have not budged from our stance that the next match be held in Seoul,” KFA vice chief Cho Jung-Yeon told Yonhap news agency.

The association's chief Chung Mong-Joon has said he does not object to North Korea raising their national flag and playing their anthem in Seoul.

FIFA rules stipulate that teams taking part in World Cup events should be allowed to use their national anthems and flags.

The communist North and capitalist South have remained technically at war since the end of their 1950-1953 conflict. Relations have improved in recent years but have worsened since the conservative administration of President Lee Myung-Bak took office in February.

The two Koreas are linked with Turkmenistan and Jordan in their World Cup qualifying group.

South Korea's next game is against Jordan in Seoul on May 31, while North Korea face Turkmenistan in an away game on June 2.

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