If 2022 Bid is Successful, South Korea Will Offer Some Game Hosting to North Korea

South Korea is reaching out to North Korea, offering to let the country host some of its World Cup games if South Korea wins its bid to host the 2022 tournament. The move is seen as a goodwill effort intended to help mend the rift between the two countries.

South Korea, who co-hosted the 2002 tournament with Japan, are promoting the message that sport, and in particular football, can help relations between the two countries.

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"We don't know exactly what the situation will be by the year 2022, we might be a unified country or we might still be a divided country, either way it will be a good opportunity to bring North Korea into the mainstream of the world and it will contribute good relations between north and south," said Han Sung-Joo, South Korea's bid chairman.

S Korea offer North games in 2022 bid
ESPN
March 31, 2010

Soccer City Construction Company Denies North Korean Worker Rumor

In the face of reports that North Korean workers were being employed to finish construction of Johannesburg's Soccer City Stadium, construction company officials have stated that no North Korean workers have been hired for those jobs.

The Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit was also reported to be using North Korean workers.

The Mbombela Municipality could not immediately be reached to comment on the report.

The report said the sanctions-hit state sent the workers "in an apparent attempt to earn much-needed hard currency".

Company says no North Koreans at work on 2010 stadiums
Mail and Guardian
March 15, 2010