KBS to air video of inter-Korean football match Thursday

October 16, 2019

 South Korean public broadcaster KBS plans to broadcast a prerecorded video of an inter-Korean football match in Pyongyang for World Cup qualifier this week after its scheduled arrival from the North, company officials said Wednesday.

According to the KBS officials, the video of Tuesday’s historic football match between the two Koreas in the North’s capital will go on the air from 5 p.m. Thursday, if it is delivered from the North earlier in the day as scheduled.

“The broadcast of the football footage is now scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on KBS 2TV Thursday. The final decision will be made after examining the video quality and length of a DVD disc to be brought by the South Korean football squad,” said a company official.

South Korea and North Korea played a scoreless draw before empty seats at Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang on Tuesday, as part of the second round of the Asian qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It was the first competitive match in Pyongyang between the Koreas and their first meeting in the North Korean capital since a friendly in 1990.

On behalf of South Korean TV networks, KBS had pushed to broadcast Tuesday’s match live, but negotiations with the North fell apart.