North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC Wins AFC Women's Champions League Title, Defeating Tokyo Verdy Beleza 1-0

North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC defeated Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza 1-0 in the AFC Women's Champions League Final at Suwon Sports Complex, South Korea, on May 23, 2026 — becoming the first North Korean women's club to win the title. Captain Kim Kyong-yong scored the decisive goal just before half-time, tapping home after Jong Kum broke down the left and crossed into the area. Tokyo Verdy Beleza pressed for an equalizer throughout the second half but could not breach the Naegohyang defense. The victory delivered a $1 million prize to the club and capped an extraordinary eight-day stay by the 39-member DPRK delegation on South Korean soil — the longest North Korean athletic presence in the South since 2018. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung sent a congratulatory message. Unification Minister Chung Dong-young stated: 'I hope this tournament has become a good precedent for glimpsing the possibility of small trust between the two Koreas.' The match drew extensive international coverage as a rare moment of inter-Korean sporting contact at a time when Pyongyang has formally removed reunification from its constitution and declared Seoul a 'hostile foreign state.' Naegohyang's ACL title win — with Kim Kyong-yong finishing as joint top scorer with 4 goals — is the most significant North Korean women's sporting achievement in the South since unified Korean teams competed at the 2018 Asian Games.