북한선수단 84명 참가하는 '아리스포츠컵' 국제유소년 축구대회 춘천에서 개막

Last Thursday, an 84-member North Korean delegation travelled to the South to take part in an international youth football tournament.
The competition has officially begun with a strong showing by the boys from across the border.
Won Jung-hwan has the full story.
Sports exchanges are an effective means of dialogue between the two Koreas that can be done under any circumstances,… both in the public and private sectors.
The Ari Sports Cup is a 6-day international football tournament for athletes under 15 years of age.
Its 5th edition has now begun in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do Province.
The qualifying stage began on Sunday,... with 8 teams from 6 different countries, and Monday afternoon the opening ceremony was held in front of some 10-thousand spectators.
To commemorate the exchange between the two Koreas,… the opening match was between a team representing South Korea's Gangwon-do Province and one of the three North Korean teams -- one called April 25th.
The April 25th team get their name from the history of the North Korean regime.
They're the defending champions -- in fact they've won all four times so far.
And once again, on Monday, they beating their opponents 3-to-1.
But both teams hope to make it to the finals and play each other again.
"South Korea is a strong team, but I think they had an off day. I hope to meet them again in the finals."

"I think we only lost to them in terms of physicality. But if we play again in the finals, I think we can win."
The Ari Sports Cup has been organized by the Korean Sports Exchange Association since 2014, and it's been held twice each in North and South Korea, even when tensions were high on the Korean Peninsula such as in 2015 during a crisis over a mine that went off in the DMZ.
But besides that, the event has its own significance.
"So far, more than 1 million South Koreans have visited the North, but only 10 thousand North Koreans have come to the South. Considering that, this tournament is significant because it means people from both sides regularly travel to the other and help create an evenly balanced system of inter-Korean exchanges."
“After competing in the tournament, the young North Korean athletes will return to the North via China on November 3rd, looking forward for the next edition of this tournament which will take place in the North Korean city of Wonsan next May. Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News Chuncheon”