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N. Korea face down foreign media
DOHA - World Cup finalists North Korea endured an uneasy encounter on Monday with foreign media at the Asian Cup curious to know more about the secretive communist country.
Despite their international expeditions and exposure in recent years, coach Jo Tong-Sop faced delicate questions at a pre-match press conference including rumours about players getting banished to a labour camp after the World Cup.
On the advice of organisers, who limited questions to issues directly related to the Asian Cup, Jo did not respond to claims about harsh treatment of players after they returned home from the World Cup without a point.
FIFA later concluded that the claims were false.
“I don’t understand what you mean by that,” the 51-year-old coach retorted when one reporter said North Korean players had limited chances to see international matches, even on video.
“We have much information about our opponents,” Jo said at the press conference, which was supposed to be about his side’s Asian Cup opener on Tuesday against the United Arab Emirates.
When another question touched on training conditions in the impoverished North, the team’s media officer and interpreter interrupted: “I think you’d better come to Korea and see it for yourself.”
One reporter asked Jo if his players had the “fear of failure” in Doha.
“In any match, one can win and one can lose,” he said.
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