A job like no other: Inside North Korea’s bid to recruit a German soccer coach



Features A job like no other: Inside North Korea’s bid to recruit a German soccer coach Gert Engels visited the DPRK to consider a job coaching the country’s best team, but authorities made it hard to leave Joe Smith February 28, 2024 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON An illustration of a man gazing at a soccer pitch \| Image: NK News Last-minute venue changes, prompted by concerns over travel to North Korea, have complicated Olympic qualifying matches this week between the DPRK and Japan’s women’s soccer teams, underlining the challenges of engaging Pyongyang even in relatively non-sensitive areas like sports. This is something that German soccer coach Gert Engels knows all too well from experience. Last-minute venue changes, prompted by concerns over travel to North Korea, have complicated Olympic qualifying matches this week between the DPRK and Japan’s women’s soccer teams, underlining the challenges of engaging Pyongyang even in relatively non-sensitive areas like sports. This is something that German soccer coach Gert Engels knows all too well from experience. Try unlimited access Only $1 for four weeks Unlimited access to all of NK News: reporting, investigations, analysis Year-one discount if you continue past $1 trial period The NK News Daily Update, an email newsletter to keep you in the loop Searchable archive of all content, photo galleries, special columns Contact NK News reporters with tips or requests for reporting Get unlimited access to all NK News content, including original reporting, investigations, and analyses by our team of DPRK experts. Subscribe now All major cards accepted. No commitments – you can cancel any time. © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. Get the Daily Update Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most – as selected by And how should we address you in correspondence? One more step! Please check your inbox, for an email we just sent you, and click on the confirmation message in it to get subscribed to our Daily News Update. Trending

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A job like no other: Inside North Korea’s bid to recruit a German soccer coach

Gert Engels visited the DPRK to consider a job coaching the country’s best team, but authorities made it hard to leave

Joe Smith February 28, 2024

A job like no other: Inside North Korea’s bid to recruit a German soccer coach

An illustration of a man gazing at a soccer pitch | Image: NK News

Last-minute venue changes, prompted by concerns over travel to North Korea, have complicated Olympic qualifying matches this week between the DPRK and Japan’s women’s soccer teams, underlining the challenges of engaging Pyongyang even in relatively non-sensitive areas like sports.

This is something that German soccer coach Gert Engels knows all too well from experience.

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A job like no other: Inside North Korea’s bid to recruit a German soccer coach

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