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The South Koreans hope that their national anthem, "Patriotic Song," and national flag could also make their debut in North Korea at next month's soccer World Cup qualifying match, which would be another highly symbolic event to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula.
But their hope may be dashed, as North Korea has refused to allow the South Korean flag to fly or the national anthem to play during the Asian preliminary qualifying game for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The two Koreas are scheduled to hold the match in the North Korean capital Pyongyang on March 24.
A group of officials from the Korea Football Association, South Korea's football governing body, held talks with their North Korean counterparts on Tuesday, but failed to reach an agreement on the use of the anthem and flag.
"We met three times with North Korean officials, but could not narrow differences of opinion," KFA Public Relations Director Yoo Young-cheol said, upon returning from the talks held in the North Korean border city of Kaesong.
During the talks, the South's side called for the use of the national flag and anthem at the soccer match to comply with the regulations of the soccer's world governing body FIFA, which stipulates national anthems and flags should be used at official international matches.
But the North rejected the demand, insisting that the two sides jointly use a neutral "unification flag" depicting the Korean peninsula and the traditional Korean folk song "Arirang," popular on both sides of the heavily-armed border that has divided the peninsula for over half a century. The "Arirang" folk song was played by the New York Philharmonic as its final piece Tuesday in Pyongyang.
But North Korea has largely used the term Arirang for political events, such as the ideology-focused gymnastic performances the North stages almost every year to showcase the virtues of the North Korean system and promote the personality cult of Kim Jong Il.
The song, along with the unification flag that feature a silhouette of the peninsula, has been used at inter-Korean friendly sports events in recent years as part of their efforts to foster a common sense and positive feelings toward reconciliation.
The two Koreas marched together wearing the same uniform under the unification flag and the Arirang song at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and the 2002 Asian Games and the World University Games in 2003, both held in South Korean cities.
But the North Korean flag was raised and its national anthem played each time a North Korean athlete won a medal at the formal international games hosted in the South under international regulations.
"North Korea should allow the use of national flag and anthem under FIFA regulations and international standards," a KFP official said. "The March 29 match is an official FIFA event between two national teams, not a friendly," he said.
The official also accused the North of rejecting a visit by a South Korean cheering squad to the qualifier. South Korea has decided to ask the international soccer federation of FIFA to mediate in the dispute, according to KFA on Wednesday.
South Korean mass media has also called for the North to allow the use of the South Korean flag and anthem as it did for the New York Philharmonic to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner."
"It is ironic that Pyongyang allows the American national anthem to be played there, but cannot bear having the South Korean national anthem played; after all, in North Korean rhetoric, both countries are enemies," the Korea Herald newspaper said in an editorial.
The South's largest daily, Chosun Ilbo, described the North's rejection as a move to refuse to recognize the Republic of Korea, which has provided much economic aid to its impoverished communist neighbor, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Analysts say Pyongyang's move is part of its ideological indoctrination campaign for North Korean people to uphold their "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il as the leader of unified Korea.
