http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZcARgTqADU




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynIY_4SXRXU




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biJmswTyGK0




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5bhNjb8H_E




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEnwb9TFWXQ




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL-IEDzpV0E




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSA5h2WDjWY




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA3Uo9KfFgM

This post has been edited by HangPC2: Jun 12 2010, 01:50 PM

Zainichi Korean J-Leaguers Will Play in World Cup (for North Korea)






The three players are of Korean ancestry, choosing to hold on to the Korean citizenship of their parents rather than naturalize and become Japanese. They all play professionally in Japan on J-League teams. Although they do not live in North Korea, the North Korean government recognized their soccer skills and requested that they join the national team.

In this clip, the North Korean team is shown wearing t-shirts with the slogan “ 1966 again ” – a reference to the stunning performance their national team gave in that year’s World Cup. [The shirts presumably do not refer to how many of the 1966 team members ended up in the gulags upon their return to North Korea.]

Ahn Young-Hak, a player for the Omiya Ardija J-league team, is interviewed about his expectations. He seems to be proud to be representing North Korea and hopes that the team’s strong sense of unity will help it win some matches. North Korea’s position in the “group of death” will put it up against incredibly strong teams, so any victory could be hailed as a repeat of the surprise of 1966.

Relevant Link: The Wall Street Journal has an article up about the North Korean soccer team. It includes some quotes from Ahn.


NTV news reports on how 3 professional soccer players who were born and raised in Japan will be playing for the glory of one of the world’s most brutal dictatorships in the 2010 World Cup :


http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xd9yt1_1966again_webcam



Sources : http://www.japanprobe.com/

North Korea Sign Legea Kit Deal


Bloomberg reports that North Korea has signed a four year - 4 million-euro Legea kit deal, according to Daniele Nastro, marketing director of Pompeii, Italy-based sports apparel maker Legea.

North Koreanfootball association assistant general secretary Ri Kang Hong confirmed the deal with Legea, without giving financial details.

North Korea received other bids. It declined an offer by China Hongxing Sports Ltd., the Singapore-listed company that provided its jerseys for qualifying games, according to Kelvin Yeung, chief financial officer of the Chinese company.

European brands might have bid more, Yeung said, without saying how much China Hongxing offered. Ri said the agreement with the Quanzhou, China-based company had expired and declined to comment on why it wasn’t renewed.



Brand : Legea



















Vendors Leave No Shirt Unturned Seeking North Korean Soccer Duds



MAY 27, 2010


Secrecy Suits Hermit Kingdom to a Tee; Will There Be a Brand New Jersey ?


By ADAM THOMPSON

Richard Smith wants to start selling the official soccer jersey of the world's most secretive totalitarian regime before the World Cup tournament begins June 11.

He isn't optimistic.

Hawking the soccer jerseys of all 32 World Cup teams competing in South Africa this year is a point of pride for Mr. Smith, the managing director of Subside SportsLtd., an apparel seller in Exeter, England.

To do that, he and his fellow sports merchandisers must find North Korea's soccer shirt. They've initiated the equivalent of a world-wide Easter egg hunt, talking to apparel makers from Mexico to China.

Mr. Smith says he would order 1,000 North Korean jerseys if someone would just let him. " Our market is collectors, " he says. " They will want the shirt no one else has. "

Handicappers view the North Korean soccer team as a long shot in this year's Cup. The secretive Democratic People's Republic of Korea mostly boasts players from its walled-off home league, which soccer fans know little about.

With an opening match against Brazil on June 15, the country makes its first Cup appearance since 1966. While the North Koreans have made pre-Cup appearances this year, they have yet to show off the shirt they will wear in South Africa. Such elusiveness is an anomaly in the gear-fanatical global soccer culture that feeds the merchandising frenzy surrounding the Cup every four years.

Adidas AG and Nike Inc. make many national teams' jerseys. But the job of clothing teams from more obscure nations sometimes falls to smaller companies. The Chinese Hongxing Erke Group had dressed North Korean athletes in recent years, but it isn't equipping them for this Cup.

Some vendors guessed Mexico's Pirma would assume the job after it hastily provided the North Koreans with replacement jerseys when the team's luggage failed to arrive in Mexico City for a March 17 exhibition against Mexico.

Julio Villalobos, Pirma's director of clothes and accessories, said the company began negotiations with the North Koreans over providing World Cup jerseys shortly after that. But he says haggling got out of hand : " They kept wanting a lower price, so we eventually said, 'No deal. '

North Korea's national soccer federation didn't respond to requests for comment made through the country's United Nations mission.

As recently as this week in an exhibition with Greece, the North Koreans wore a jersey made by Spanish apparel company Astore. But Astore sales director Michel Gogniat says his company has no official deal with North Korea. Instead he says his company unwittingly sold the shirts without any national demarcations to an intermediary in China, who redirected them to the team.

After spending months on the puzzle, Mr. Smith finally solved part of it earlier this month. A contact in Asia informed him that the North Koreans had struck a deal with Legea SRL, an Italian company. But Mr. Smith still isn't sure his firm can order the jerseys before the Cup begins.

Lorenzo Grimaldi, Legea's marketing manager, confirmed that it has the North Korean contract. He said it struck the deal in Pompei, Italy, in early February, which predates the negotiations between Pirma and the North Koreans.

Legea wants the exposure of having jerseys with its logo shown on TV all over the world. So it is paying for the costs of producing the jerseys and other official attire worn by the North Korean team.

Getting the jersey to the market in time for the tournament has proved tough. The North Koreans wanted a " personalized " design for their jersey, including fabrics that were " off the catalog, " Mr. Grimaldi recalls.

Legea translated memos into Korean explaining such details as how large the North Korean flag and Legea's own logo would appear on the jersey in order to meet World Cup standards. " This really slowed our work, " Mr. Grimaldi says. The jerseys aren't available anywhere online yet. Legea will charge €45 ($56) to €50 ($62) for the shirts.

Why it should be so difficult to sell the jerseys is anyone's guess, says Jim Noonan, vice president of marketing for Sports Endeavors Inc. in Hillsborough, N.C. " I don't think they're being deliberately difficult, " he says of the North Korean soccer federation. " They're just winging it, probably. "

Finding the jersey is just one of many challenges facing those hoping to sell North Korean merchandise.

Mr. Noonan is among the vendors who don't expect much from sales of souvenirs for one of the tournament's biggest underdogs, considering the unpopularity of the government and the lack of access to customers within that country's closed borders.

So far souvenirs like " I DPRK Football " infant bodysuits, which Mr. Noonan's company sells online for $12.99, have accounted for .025% of the company's World Cup-related sale

As for questions about the morality of making a buck off Kim Jong Il's favorite soccer team, the merchandisers say they don't worry about that.

" We're a football company, " Mr. Smith says. " We're not a political adjudicator. We trade in polyester. "

" I have Iran, Venezuela, everyone on the Axis of Evil," says Ben Phillip, a Michigan graphic designer with a North Korean soccer T-shirt for sale. " It doesn't really bother me. "

Even if merchandisers can't get a hold of this year's jersey, there is one set of North Korean shirts vendors can count on: throwbacks. Subside sells shirts from 2008 and 1966. Toffs Ltd., another English company, also sells the 1966 edition.

Toffs co-owner and president Alan Finch says his company usually accommodates customer demand regardless of how controversial the jersey may be, and never thought twice about making the North Korean throwback. He was 18 when the 1966 World Cup came to England, and recalls having a soft spot for the unheralded team that upset Italy and reached the quarterfinals.

" They were likable long shots, " he says.

—Stacy Meichtry, Nicholas Casey and David Luhnow contributed to this article.



Sources : http://online.wsj.com/



North Korea Profits From Brazil World Cup Game With Jersey Deal



June 02, 2010, 11:37 AM EDT

By Alex Duff and Makiko Kitamura


June 3 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea is returning to the World Cup after 44 years, and venturing into the sports marketing industry that evolved in its absence.


Ahead of the June 11 start of the tournament, the soccer team of Kim Jong Il’s regime has snared a 4 million-euro ($4.9 million) jersey contract over four years, according to Daniele Nastro, marketing director of Pompeii, Italy-based sports apparel maker Legea s.r.l. North Korean soccer association assistant general secretary Ri Kang Hong confirmed the deal with Legea, without giving financial details.


“ Perhaps it’s a sign of incipient capitalism, ” Jim Hoare, a retired British diplomat who served in Pyongyang, said from London. Although western sports leagues aren’t covered by the media in North Korea, officials “ would be aware of the value of sports sponsorship, ” Hoare said.

The deal is timely as North Korea faces trade restrictions. South Korea halted business last month after blaming the communist nation for a torpedo attack on a warship that killed 46 sailors in March. Japan has tightened controls on sending money to the North, which was already under United Nations sanctions for nuclear testing.

Kim’s regime is “ hungry ” for foreign cash, according to Scott Snyder, director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy at The Asia Foundation in Washington. “ The economy is in a very difficult situation, ” he added.

1,000-to-1 Chance

Ranked No. 105 in the world, North Korea takes on the Nike Inc.-clad Brazil, the record five-time world champion, in its opening game on June 15 in Johannesburg. Ladbrokes Plc, a U.K. oddsmaker, rates North Korea a 16-to-1 chance to defeat Brazil, meaning a $1 bet would yield $16 in profit.

The communist state is given a 1,000-to-1 chance of winning the tournament, according to Ladbrokes.

At the 1966 World Cup in England, when brand names were absent from even European team uniforms, North Korea wore plain red shirts when it upset Italy 1-0 to reach the quarterfinals and won the affection of the English, who “ probably felt sorry for them, ” Hoare said. England now commands about 34 million euros a year from Nike Inc.’s Umbro brand, making it the top earner of the 32 teams that will play at the World Cup in South Africa, according to Sport + Markt AG.

No Apparel Market

North Korea’s team is getting an amount similar to what might be paid to a low-ranking team in the English Premier League, the world’s richest soccer league, according to Simon Chadwick, a sports business professor at the U.K.’s Coventry University. Ri, in an interview in Tokyo last week, said it was hard to find a jersey sponsor as there’s “ no market ” for sports apparel in North Korea.

“ If it doesn’t result in sales, there’s no point ” for some sporting-goods companies, Ri said.

Legea will provide North Korea with branded World Cup jerseys and training gear, Nastro said. That will help raise the Italian brand’s international profile, although the marketing bet could backfire, Chadwick said.

Legea “ will be working overtime to put clear blue water between the team and the regime, ” Chadwick said. “ It could get to the stage when people stop buying the brand if they’re being seen as propping up a dictatorship. ”

While not breaking trade sanctions, Legea is “ swimming against the tide ” with its sponsorship because of the perception of North Korea, Snyder said. “ It’s a bit like sponsoring Tiger Woods at the moment, ” he said.

Nastro said he isn’t worried. “ In the World Cup, politics will be out, ” he said by telephone from Pompeii.

Rival Chinese Bid

North Korea received other bids. It declined an offer by China Hongxing Sports Ltd (ERKE), the Singapore-listed company that provided its jerseys for qualifying games, according to Kelvin Yeung, chief financial officer of the Chinese company.

European brands might have bid more, Yeung said, without saying how much China Hongxing offered. Ri said the agreement with the Quanzhou, China-based company had expired and declined to comment on why it wasn’t renewed.

North Korea rejected Legea’s first design for its shirts as too modern, frowning upon a white line across a red shirt, Nastro said.

“ As a people, we don’t like flashy designs, ” Ri said. “ For home games, the jerseys are white, which we regard as noble, and it reflects our spirit. For away games, we go with red, which is used in our national flag. It also symbolizes our passion and heart. A simple design expresses that more purely. ”

As part of the shirt deal agreed in March, there is a kicker for North Korea: it will get a 10 million euro bonus if it wins the World Cup, Nastro said.

“ That’s probably not going to happen, ” he added.



Sources : http://www.businessweek.com/

North Korea's Rooney more like Beckham



June 15, 2010


He plays like Rooney but behaves more like Beckham. He loves his cars, his rap music and his clothes, and changes hairstyles more often than you can say " Kim Jong Il ".

North Korea striker Jong Tae Se is not your average North Korean.

Born and raised in Japan, the 26-year-old forward has never lived in communist North Korea, and says he has no plans to. He loves to shop, snowboard and dreams of marrying Korea's Posh Spice - none of which would be possible in the impoverished North, one of the most isolated countries in the world.

But he wears the Democratic People's Republic of Korea jersey with pride, and is moved to tears when he hears the country's anthem. The boy from Nagoya could become North Korea's biggest international soccer star since Pak Doo Ik scored the goal that knocked Italy out of the World Cup in 1966.

" He is Japanese but isn't a Japanese, he is Korean but is playing on the North Korean squad, he is a North Korean national but lives in Japan - all these things are very difficult for the world to understand, " Shin Mu Koeng, a friend and his biographer, said Tuesday from Tokyo.

North Korea is back in the World Cup for the first time in 44 years. They were the mystery team in 1966, and they're the mystery team in 2010. Very little is known about the team from North Korea, sheltered players mostly in their early 20s with limited international experience.

Jong, witty and personable, with a dazzling smile, cheeky personality and talent for making goals, gives lowest-ranked North Korea a bit of star power as they face teams from Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast stacked with big names.

Jong is quickly becoming his team's biggest personality and most powerful asset, setting himself apart on and off the field, from his fashion sense to his playing style.

On the pitch, Jong is fast and aggressive, North Korea's leading scorer with 16 goals in 24 international matches. His impressive play earned him comparisons to England's Wayne Rooney among South Korean media.

He collects sneakers and considers himself a bit of a fashion hound. Last Wednesday, he was sporting gelled hair. By Thursday he had shaved it all off. And he's not shy about admitting that he cried like a baby watching South Korea's most famous soap opera, " Winter Sonata ".

This is how he sees himself in five years : driving a car worthy of a rap star, with a pop star like one of the singers from the Wonder Girls - South Korea's version of the Spice Girls - on his arm, and playing for a big-name club in Europe.

Born in Nagoya to an ethnic Korean family, Jong inherited his father's South Korean citizenship but was raised and schooled in his mother's pro-North Korean community.

He is among Japan's nearly 600,000 " zainichi ", ethnic Koreans who live in Japan as long-term residents, many of them third- and fourth-generation descendants of labourers or conscripts who have lived there since Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea.

Their first language may be Japanese, but Jong and midfielder An Yong Hak were raised within the zainichi community, attending Korean-language schools and pledging allegiance to North Korea founder Kim Il Sung and current leader Kim Jong Il.

Still, Jong's zainichi background sets him apart. He says he never travels without his iPod, laptop and Nintendo, much to the curiosity of teammates from a country with only one state-run TV channel where such luxuries are reserved for top officials.

Their games are simple: rock, scissors and paper are enough to send them into fits of shouts and laughter, he says. Teammates flock to his room during overseas matches, asking to listen to his music, play Super Mario, borrow his books or fluorescent Nike running shoes and hear about life in the J-League - including how much money he makes.

But Jong has said he admires his North Korean teammates' passion for football, and noted that they are largely indifferent to money and materialism.

" He had many doubts, but as he trained with the North Korean players, he saw their pureness, " said Shin, whose biography about Jong was released in South Korea and Japan. " They never complained about the inadequacies and they did their absolute best. "

" They were playing for their team and for victory, nothing else. "

Jong is also well aware of the controversies surrounding North Korea, which remains locked in a stand-off with the international community over its nuclear program and has been hauled before the UN Security Council on accusations of sinking a South Korean warship in March.

Don't expect him to move anytime soon to Pyongyang.

" My homeland is not Japan. There's another country in Japan, called Zainichi, " he says. " None of these countries - South Korea, North Korea and Japan - can be my home country, because I'm a zainichi and therefore Zainichi is my native land.

" And I think that's the purpose of my life - letting the world know of the zainichi existence. "


- AP -

Jong Tae-Se