North Korean footballers make it to Europe
Swiss second-division side Concordia Basel has signed up the first two North Korean football players ever to be hired by a European club.
The two 19-year-olds, Chol Ryong Pak and Kuk Jin Kim, are both members of the reclusive communist state’s under-21 national team and as such had already travelled abroad.
The players arrived in Basel on Wednesday according to the Basler Zeitung newspaper after signing three-year contracts. The details of the deal, which took two years to broker, have not been released.
Concordia’s management considers the two players to be considerable reinforcements for the first team, particularly because of their discipline and tactical knowledge.
Pak and Kim have been accompanied by an official North Korean government minder, a former international referee who will also serve as their interpreter.
Further transfers are possibly on the cards. A third player was to have moved to Switzerland, but could not come because of an injury.
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