Soccer fans permitted to watch match in Pyongyang

Japan will likely temporarily lift its request that its nationals refrain from traveling to North Korea, ahead of a key soccer match in Pyongyang.

Japan is set to play against the North in a qualifier for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals on November 15th. The game will be the first played by a Japanese squad in Pyongyang in 22 years.

Some travel agencies are selling tours to see the game, via flights from China. Japan's Foreign Ministry says many Japanese soccer fans have already booked for the tours.

Japan's government asks its nationals to avoid traveling to North Korea under any circumstances, as part of its sanctions against the country for its nuclear program and abductions of Japanese citizens.

The government says it must proceed with care to secure the safety of soccer fans traveling to the country, which has no Japanese embassy or other diplomatic mission.

Thursday, October 27, 2011 04:57 +0900 (JST)