Could a soccer match help mend ties between North and South Korea?

SEOUL, South Korea — Rivals. Neighbors.

It’s a storied sporting narrative, but one that has rarely carried such meaning.

A North Korean women’s soccer team took the field Wednesday in South Korea, becoming the first sports team from the isolated, nuclear-armed state to visit the democratic south in nearly eight years.

The rare clash generated intense interest, offering a high-profile showcase for not only the prowess of Kim Jong Un’s regime but also efforts to keep building ties between these two countries that are technically still at war.

Kim is pursuing a more hostile policy toward U.S. ally South Korea, cementing his neighbor as the north’s “primary foe” and rebuffing repeated attempts at dialogue from South Korea’s liberal president, Lee Jae Myung.

“We came here strictly to play the match,” said Ri Yu Il, coach of Pyongyang’s Naegohyang Women’s FC.

Naegohyang ultimately defeated South Korea’s Suwon FC Women 2-1 on Wednesday in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League, a prestigious regional tournament.

The North Korean club advances to the final this weekend, when it will face Japanese side Tokyo Verdy Beleza.

But it was hard to keep attention solely on the field in Suwon, a city south of Seoul.

Public interest in the rare North-South matchup has been high, with all 7,087 general admission tickets selling out within hours last week.

Also in the stands were an estimated 3,000 spectators from civic groups supported by Seoul’s Unification Ministry, who are expected to cheer for both sides.

“We will cheer enthusiastically for both teams so that the two core values of sport — ‘fair play’ and ‘peace’ — are fully realized,” the groups said in a statement ahead of the game.

Ri, the North Korean coach, told reporters that “the issue of the cheering squad is not something I, as coach, or our players are thinking about. I think we will focus only on the game.”

The North Korean delegation — made up of 27 players and 12 staff members — traveled via Beijing before it arrived at Incheon International Airport on Sunday.

North Korea is something of a powerhouse in women’s soccer, frequently winning youth competitions and competing at a much higher standard than its men’s teams.

Pyongyang is likely to use the event to project an image of stability and strength, analysts said, though it could also provide an opening for South Korea’s liberals to improve relations.

It will try to use the opportunity to demonstrate “confidence in the stability of its regime through achievements as a sports powerhouse,” said Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University, adding that the match could also allow the Lee administration in the south to “improve inter-Korean relations.”

“The movement of athletes under international sporting norms suggests that minimal communication channels and security assurances between the two Koreas are still functioning,” he added.