• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

  • Photowalks
  • Book and Prints
  • Portfolio
  • About/Contact
  • Support
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • RSS

Feb 01 2005 4 Comments

Political posturing

“We are sure that we will win. We’ve been strongly motivated. We shall beat them for sure.”

North Korea’s sports guidance director Ri Hyon, saying that the national team’s football players are being promised cash, cars, and houses to motivate them to beat Japan.

As the February 9th World Cup qualifier between Japan and North Korea draws nearer, it would seem the political posturing has now started in earnest.

The coming game will be played in Japan, and due to the importance of the game and the tension between the two countries, it will be interesting to see how the usually impeccably behaved Japanese fans react. When the teams met 20 years ago in Pyongyang, the Japanese were subjected to an intimidating and off-putting silence every time they gained possession. And in another trip in 1989, the team complained about a lack of food. A situation that resulted in some of the players having to eat instant noodles, which fortunately they had taken with them.

But with the 1st leg still unplayed, talk of the return fixture has already started. And rumours have surfaced that in a bid to hinder Japan’s superior technical ability, the North Koreans will let the grass on the pitch grow a little longer than usual.

A story that this picture of Kim Jong-Il and a gang of grinning groundsmen does little to discredit.

kim_jong_il

Categorized: Current Affairs, Sports

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Wahn says

    2/1/2005 at 9:19 pm

    In a nation full of shoe polishers, the lack of merit wouldnt be a hindrance for a guaranteed career. The footballers probably wouldnt care much about the cars, I heard that all they have there are those soviet-made, zero-suspension, zero-horsepower ones.

    Reply
  2. Brett says

    2/2/2005 at 9:29 am

    Well, if they split the difference between the Korean wheat field and the ubiquitous Japanese dustbowl, they might actually come up with a surface that’s half playable.

    Reply
  3. melina says

    2/4/2005 at 4:11 am

    his hair…it’s so “trumpian”. i can’t help but wonder if he blow-dries it and uses mousse or something…

    Reply
  4. luke says

    2/5/2005 at 9:39 am

    apparently his hair is like that to make himself look taller he wears platform shoes as well, that man has got some problems.

    Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Copyright © 2025 · Tokyo Times