North Korean supporters energize inter-Korean Asian Games football showdown in Japan

Loud shouts, chants and drumbeats filled Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa in Fukuroi, about 104 kilometers (65 miles) east of the main host city of Nagoya, as South Korea and North Korea faced off in the final Group F match of women's football at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

The 50,000-seat stadium was largely empty, but enthusiastic supporters from both sides filled the stands with excitement and energy.

Several hundred North Korean supporters in red shirts settled in the behind-the-goal stand on one side of the stadium.

A smaller number of South Korean supporters, mostly dressed in white shirts, were seated in the central section in front of the VIP seats.

The North Korean supporters, mostly Japanese residents of North Korean descent, dominated the atmosphere, repeatedly chanting words of encouragement to the players and singing songs while waving red thundersticks and beating drums and other percussion instruments.

Around them, they hung placards that read, "To the finish line of becoming a sports powerhouse," "We are Choson people" and "Go Choson."

Choson is the Korean name used by North Korea for its official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The North Korean supporters' cheering intensified when North Korea took the lead through Chae Un-yong's goal in the first half.

After South Korea leveled the match at 1-1 just after the start of the second half, South Korean supporters responded with louder cheers and shouts.

However, the North Korean supporters refused to speak to South Korean journalists at the stadium.

"We are well aware of the South Korean media's interest in our cheering squad in this inter-Korean matchup, but we will not accept individual coverage of our supporters," an official from the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, also known as Chongryon, said without giving a specific reason.

North Korean Sports Minister Kim Il-guk watched the match and left the stadium without speaking to the media.

Yonhap