North Korean team Naegohyang reached the final of the Asian Women’s Champions League with a win in South Korea

A team of North Korean footballers crossed the border to make history in South Korea with a victory to take them to the final of the Asian Women’s Champions League.

Naegohyang won their semi-final 2-1 against South Korea’s Suwon – with emotional scenes at the final whistle, with some of the victorious players crying for joy.

The match marks the first time since 2018 that athletes from the North have toured the South.

Second-half goals from Choe Kum-ok and Kim Kyung-young won the game, after Haruhi Suzuki’s 49th-minute opener for Suwon, and sent Naegohyang to the final in their first year in the competition.

Suwon was awarded a penalty in the semi-final after a video assistant referee review, but former Chelsea captain Ji So-yeon pushed his effort wide.

“We believed in our team’s ability,” said Choe of Naegohang.

“Every player’s role is important, but things didn’t go well for us in the first half.

“Once we got into the second half, we found our rhythm and I think the game was a lot better for us.”

North Korean athletes have not crossed the border since the PyeongChang Winter Olympics eight years ago, when they formed a unified ice hockey team for the first time.

Officially, there were no away supporters at Wednesday’s game – which has been sold out for the past week – due to travel restrictions between the North and South.

A large group of spectators from civic groups supported by Seoul’s Unification Ministry were at the stadium to support both teams, though they were mostly silent.

Chun Dong-yong, South Korea’s unification minister, said the game would set a “positive precedent” for inter-Korean relations.

The two Koreas are technically still at war after failing to sign a peace treaty when the Korean War ended in 1953.

Efforts have since been made to improve relations, but relations between the two countries have soured in recent years, with North Korea labeling South Korea its “worst enemy state” and saying it no longer seeks reconciliation.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, however, is looking to improve relations.

Naigohang’s 27 players and 12 staff members will be down south for the final against Japan’s Tokyo Verdy Belleza at the same stadium on Saturday, May 23.