One of football’s most famous victories on the international stage occurred in June 1966. It took place at the now defunct Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough, England. This was the occasion in which North Korea defeated the then-two-time winners, Italy, in the final group game and secured their passage to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Whilst the stadium is now a housing estate, a bronze imprint of a football boot is visible there today and signifies the precise position from which Pak Do Ik converted the winning strike for his country.

Six years later, North Korea made their debut at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. They would leave Germany with five medals that year, including the country’s first gold, won by Ri Ho Jun in the 50m rifle shooting event. North Korea has 47 Summer Olympic medals in total. This places it higher on the all-time list than countries such as Ireland, India, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and many more. They have competed in all but two of Summer Olympics, winning a total of four gold medals in London 2012. That same year they also competed at the Paralympic Games for the first time, thus ensuring that they were becoming a mainstay of world sporting events.