Report: North Korea’s soccer team reprimanded for poor World Cup performance

Report: North Korea’s World Cup team reprimanded

SEOUL, South Korea — A news report says North Korea’s soccer team and coach have been reprimanded by the government for the team’s poor performance at the World Cup.

Radio Free Asia said the team was summoned to a closed-door meeting in Pyongyang earlier this month and criticized for its losses to Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast. The report says players were then ordered to reprimand coach Kim Jong Hun.

The report cited unidentified sources in North Korea and a Chinese businessman described as knowledgeable about North Korea affairs. South Korea’s main spy agency could not confirm the report, and there was no mention of any such meeting in North Korean state media.