When the North Korean males’s soccer staff took the sphere for 2 2026 World Cup qualifying matches this month, shut observers observed an necessary roster change.
Han Kwang-song, a high-profile striker, was again, greater than three years after vanishing from public view for causes past his management: United Nations-imposed sanctions on North Korean nationals over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
Mr. Han’s story is a uncommon case of North Korea sanctions reverberating via skilled soccer. It additionally reveals how enforcement of U.N. sanctions towards people varies by nation.
The federal government in Italy didn’t deport Mr. Han, now 25, whereas he was taking part in skilled soccer there. However as soon as he moved to Qatar, the Qatari authorities did.
“The fundamental story is sensible; the shocking half is that Qatar complied with the U.N. resolutions,” stated Marcus Noland, an professional on North Korean sanctions and government vp of the Peterson Institute for Worldwide Economics in Washington.
A prodigy with ‘superhero’ standing
Mr. Han’s early success was partly a product of North Korea’s push to domesticate soccer expertise. After attending a prestigious soccer faculty based by the nation’s chief, Kim Jong-un, Mr. Han educated in Spain earlier than turning professional in Italy.
He shortly made an impression in Europe as a speedy ahead with a watch for objective. Again house, North Korea’s official information company praised him after a 2019 Asian Cup qualifier as “the participant that specialists and fans paid essentially the most consideration to.”
“In North Korea, he’s a superhero,” stated Kim Heung-Tae, a professor of sports activities science at Daejin College in South Korea who follows the North’s soccer program.
However in 2017, as punishment for the North’s sixth nuclear weapons take a look at, the United Nations Safety Council ordered all North Korean nationals working overseas to be repatriated by December 2019 — a method for stopping financing of the North’s army.
Mr. Han, certainly one of a number of North Koreans taking part in abroad in skilled soccer leagues on the time, was among the many targets.
Sanctions meet actuality
However the Italian authorities didn’t repatriate Mr. Han by the 2019 deadline, United Nations Safety Council stories present. As a substitute, Juventus, the Italian membership the place he had been incomes greater than half 1,000,000 euros a 12 months, struck a deal in early 2020 to ship him to Al-Duhail, a soccer staff in Qatar, on a five-year contract price about 4.3 million euros, about $4.7 million.
Although a Safety Council panel of specialists on North Korea contacted Italy and Qatar instantly after that switch, it was not canceled, and Juventus accepted a switch price from the Qatari membership, based on the U.N. The panel stated in a report that it later “reiterated to Qatar the related resolutions regarding the case.”
That summer season, Mr. Han stopped showing for Al-Duhail. In January 2021, Qatar’s mission to the United Nations stated in a letter to the U.N. panel that Mr. Han had left Qatar after having his contract “terminated” by the membership — and that Qatar’s actions mirrored its commitments to Safety Council resolutions about North Korean nationals who earn revenue overseas.
On the time, the coronavirus pandemic was raging, and North Korea’s borders had been sealed. Qatar stated in its letter, a replica of which was included in a U.N. report, that Mr. Han had left the nation on Qatar Airways Flight 131 — a nonstop flight to Rome.
‘He’s most likely been coaching all alongside’
Particulars of Mr. Han’s actions since leaving Qatar, together with the timing and circumstances of his return to North Korea, stay scarce. In accordance with Transfermarkt, an internet site that tracks soccer gamers and their contracts, he has not performed for knowledgeable membership since July 2021.
Additionally unclear is whether or not any of Mr. Han’s earnings ever made it again to the North Korean authorities.
Mr. Han signed an settlement in 2020 with a Qatari financial institution, the place he had an account on the time, pledging to not switch any cash to his house nation, based on a U.N. report. Nonetheless, Professor Kim stated, North Korean brokers had most definitely accompanied him in every single place he went abroad and restricted how he spent his earnings.
Neither FIFA, the governing physique of soccer; nor the Italian or Qatari Overseas Ministries; nor North Korea’s soccer affiliation or the Asian Soccer Confederation instantly responded to requests for remark. Nor did Al-Duhail, Juventus or Cagliari, one other staff that Mr. Han performed for in Italy.
Mr. Han’s return to competitors this month was reported earlier by CNN and the web site NK Information, amongst different retailers.
Professor Kim stated that the pandemic had most likely curtailed many athletic occasions in North Korea, the place the long-lasting border closing crippled the nation’s financial system. However soccer is the nation’s hottest sport, and Professor Kim stated that home competitions had most likely been held frequently in current months.
As for Mr. Han, Professor Kim stated, “he’s most likely been coaching all alongside.”
Relatively than becoming a member of one other skilled league overseas, Mr. Han is prone to give attention to making ready for the 2026 World Cup, Professor Kim stated. He added that North Korea was aggressive in its area and had a superb probability of qualifying, partially as a result of FIFA has almost doubled the variety of slots for Asian nations at that event, which can be held in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Max Canzi, who coached Mr. Han in Italy for Cagliari’s under-19 staff, informed CNN that he was “very pleased” that the striker had returned to worldwide competitors for the World Cup qualifying match towards Syria in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 16.
As Mr. Han resumes his profession, Mr. Canzi added that he was “very curious in regards to the stage of his efficiency after being out for a lot time.”
Mr. Han was substituted at halftime within the Saudi Arabia match, which North Korea misplaced, 1-0. However 5 days later in Yangon, Myanmar, he contributed to a 6-1 win over the house nation with a signature headed objective.
