The state is mostly known as the "Hermit Kingdom", mainly due to its isolation from the rest of the world. But that does not mean that they do not enjoy sports as much as everybody else. As a matter of fact, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has a rather obsessive look at team sports such as football and basketball.

Despite its well known dislike of western countries, especially the United States, North Korea shares a lot of the western world's love affair with football. Basketball is also very popular, as a matter of fact, NBA star Dennis Rodman has regularly visited North Korea to help train the national basketball team.

"Despite North Korea's political isolation, sports remain a universal language that connects the nation to the global athletic community. The country's dedication to developing elite athletes in football, weightlifting, and gymnastics demonstrates that competitive spirit transcends political boundaries."
— Robert J. Wood, PhD, Founder of Topend Sports

The DPRK Football Association was established in 1945 and is the governing body for all things football, and became a member of FIFA in 1958. They first advanced to the FIFA World Cup in 1966 where they lost to Portugal with a final score of 5-3.

The national football team did not qualify again for the World Cup until 2010. The women's national football team has performed a bit better by taking the 2001 and 2003 AFC Women's Asian Cups and were also runners-up in 1993 and 1997. They also qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup three times (1999, 2003, 2011)

Below are details of sports, sporting events and sports people related to North Korea. Is there something missing? If you know of something that should be listed here, please let us know.

Popular sports of North Korea

North Korea Sporting Success

  • Jong Song-ok won marathon gold at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics in Seville - the country's only athletics medal at a major competition

Great athletes from North Korea

  • Sohn Kee-Chung - he was the first Korean to win a medal at the Olympic Games, as he won gold in the marathon at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
  • Choe Chol-su - he won the gold medal in the men's Flyweight (51 kg) category at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
  • Om Yun-chol - is a North Korea Olympic champion, and five time World Champion who competed in the 56 kg category until 2018 and the 55 kg category from 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.

Olympic History

North Korea made its Winter Olympics debut in 1964 and Summer Olympics debut in 1972, competing in various sports with notable success in weightlifting and wrestling.

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FIFA World Cup

Explore North Korea's participation in the FIFA World Cup, including their historic 1966 appearance and 2010 qualification.

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Women's Football

The North Korean women's national team has achieved significant success, winning multiple AFC Women's Asian Cups and qualifying for three FIFA Women's World Cups.

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North Korea Sports trivia

  • North Korea participates in the East Asian Games.

North Korea at major events

Past sporting events hosted in North Korea

Upcoming sporting events in North Korea

  • No event yet

Annual sporting events held in North Korea

  • Pyongyang Marathon - held in April every year.

Sporting Facilities in North Korea

North Korea's Participation at the Olympics

Korea made its debut Olympics appearance at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, when it was still under the Japanese rule. Then, in 1936, Son Gi-jeong became the first Korean Olympic gold medalist by breaking the World Record in the marathon in Berlin.

The Korean Olympic Committee was established in Seoul in June 1947 under the name Chosun Olympic Committee and was recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1947.

The Olympic Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was founded in 1953, and it applied for recognition in 1956. It made its first appearance at the Winter Olympics in 1964 in Innsbruck, Austria.

💡 Pro Tip: North Korea's Olympic participation has been intermittent due to political reasons. They boycotted several Olympics including Seoul 1988 and have been absent from multiple Winter Olympics throughout history.

North Korea finally made its debut at the Summer Olympics in Munich in 1972 with 37 athletes. Four athletes won a medal, including the women's volleyball team.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) did not appear at seven Winter Olympics since 1964 (1968, 1976, 1980, 1994, 2002, 2014, and 2022). Also, in 2021 DPRK did not participate at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the country's strict border closure.

At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, North Korea was suspended from the IOC as a punitive measure for opting out of the Tokyo Olympics.

North Korea Performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics

North Korea won six medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics - two silver and four bronze.

Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total
2024 Paris Olympics 0 2 4 6