Our Team Labeled as 'Goerye' by North Korea... Government Says "Lack of Confidence"

North Korea Labels South-North Women's Soccer Quarterfinal as 'Goerye'
Ministry of Unification: "North Korea Reveals Its Own Lack of Confidence"
Presidential Office: "No Significance Given to Change in Address"

The government criticized North Korea for labeling our athletes as 'goerye' during the Asian Games broadcast, saying it "revealed a lack of confidence." Previously, North Korea had referred to South Korea as 'goerye' during the broadcast of the South-North women's soccer quarterfinal match held on the 30th of last month.

A Ministry of Unification official told reporters on the 5th, "Until now, it has been common for North Korea to refer to the Republic of Korea as 'Namjosun' in sports games," adding, "While North Korea has called our national team 'goerye athletes' in international sports competitions, we have not confirmed any precedent of them displaying the country name as 'goerye' in broadcasts or articles. This is quite an unusual case."

A scene from North Korea's Korean Central TV reporting on the South-North women's soccer quarterfinal match held on the 30th of last month. Our team was labeled as 'goerye' (puppet).

The official criticized, "Using extreme derogatory expressions and overreacting even in sports events shows that the North Korean authorities themselves are revealing a lack of confidence." Earlier, a presidential office official dismissed the issue, saying, "Since North Korea has been continuously changing the terms, we will not assign any special meaning to each change."

North Korea's Korean Central TV reported on the women's soccer quarterfinal match between North and South held on the 30th of last month on the 2nd, labeling South Korea as 'goerye.' At that time, the Korean Central TV announcer explained, "The quarterfinal match between our women's soccer team and the goerye team was held on September 30," and "The match ended with our team overwhelmingly defeating the goerye team by a score of 4 to 1."

While North Korea has traditionally referred to South Korea as 'Namjosun,' this time it unusually labeled it as 'goerye.' In North Korea, 'goerye' means "a national traitor who serves as a puppet to imperialists and other foreign invaders, betraying the homeland and the people." Considering that North Korea criticizes the United States as 'imperialists,' this can be interpreted as belittling us as 'goerye,' meaning a puppet of the United States.

Meanwhile, after winning the quarterfinal match against South Korea at the Wenzhou Sports Center Stadium in Zhejiang Province, China, on the 30th of last month, North Korea showed displeasure when a South Korean reporter referred to them as 'North Korea' or 'the North,' demanding to be called 'Joseon.' Ri Yu-il, the head coach of the North Korean women's soccer team, protested, saying, "Not the North, but the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," and added, "Let's get that right."