In its group opener with Brazil on Tuesday, which it lost 1-2, four players -- forward An Chol-Hyok, goalkeeper Kim Myong-won, midfielder Kim Kyong-il and defender Pak Sung-hyok -- were listed as absent on the official roster provided by FIFA, which sparked speculation by some South Korean media that they had tried to seek asylum.
North Korea initially submitted the full list of its 23-man squad as available for the game but the number was revised to 19 on match day.
At a practice session held at the Makhulong stadium in Tembisa, near Johannesburg, however, all 23 players of the North Korean team, including the four in question, were seen taking part in the team drills.
"The report appears to be based on a rumor that began by a clerical error at the North Korea-Brazil match," Gordon Watson, a FIFA media officer, told Yonhap News Agency.
"Apparently the four players were with the team's technical group by the bench," he said.
"There are no dramatic events here and it was a genuine human error," Watson said when asked whether the players may have sought asylum through foreign embassies here.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled to settle either in South Korea, China or other countries since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, according to statistics from the Seoul government. Nearly 70 percent of them said they fled their country to seek economic freedom.
An official at the South Korean embassy here said they haven't picked up any out-of-the-ordinary movements regarding the North Korean squad.
North Korea is one of the 32 finalists at the South African World Cup, making a comeback to the tournament for the first time in 44 years. The country ranks 105th among FIFA members, the lowest among the 32 World Cup finalists this year.//Yonhap
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