Football or Soccer has had a long history in the Korean Peninsula. In earlier times, Koreans played a version of the game called chuk-gul. In 1882, Korea was exposed to the present form of football [soccer] and added it as one of the sports to enjoy. While the Korean Football Association was founded in 1928, it did not gain momentum until 1948, when the Republic of Korea was established. The Korea Football Association, joined FIFA in 1948 and became a member of the AFC or Asian Football Confederation. There was a formation of the K League, with teams such as Gangwon FC, Incheon United, FC Seoul, Pohang Steelers, Daegyu FC, Jeju United FC and the Suwon Samsung Bluewings.

Soccer in Korea has come a long way, especially when Korea hosted the 2002 World Cup jointly with Japan. In their quest to qualify for the World Cup, the Reublic of Korea is in first place with eleven points, followed by the Democratic Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates in Group 2 in the fourth round.

Recently, there have been an addition of new players to the roster of the Republic of Korea Football [Soccer] Team. Park Ji Sung, who is a winger for Manchester United, Choi Tae Wook, who is a midfielder for the Jeonduk Hyundai Motors, Yoo Byeung-Soo of Incheon United, Yang Dong-Hyun of Busan i Park FC, and kim Geun-Hwan of the Yokohama FC of Japan.

The record of the Korean Football Association of the Republic of Korea at the present time [2009-5-23-2009], has the following: 19 Goals for, 6 goals against, 2 penalty goals, 1.7 goals for average, 15 yellow cards, 0 second yellow cards followed by red cards, 0 red cards, 11 matxhes played, 6 games won, 5 draws and no losses. It remains to be seen what will transpire.

One of the principal players of the Korean Football Association is Ahn Jung Hwan, who has participated in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup and may participate in the 2010 World Cup. The career of this illustrious player has been marked with 10 wins, 8 draws, 4 losses, 4 goals for, 0 goals against, 4 yellow cards and 0 red cards.

Cho Jae-Jin is another player who brought prestige to the Korean Football Association, with 11 matches played, 3 wins, 5 draws, 3 losses, and 2 goals for. Cho Jae-Jin is one of the few players of football [soccer] in the world, who has never received a yellow card nor a red card. Rojas of the New York Red Bulls, could learn from him after receiving a red card for his anti professional behaviour against Mullan of the Houston Dynamos.

 While the Republic of Korea has an illustrious history of soccer, no review of Korean Soccer could be complete without a review of soccer in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea otherwise known as North Korea. It is understandable that North Korea is in the news in the political arena but its football [soccer] team deserves to be mentioned.

The DPR Korea Football Association was founded in 1945 after troops from the Soviet Union entered the Korean Peninsula. It became a member of the Asian Football Confederation after the end of the Korean Civil War in 1954. In 1958, the association became a member of FIFA. The current coach is Kim Jong Hun and the team is composed of North Korean players and Ethnic Koreans born in Japan.

In the latest standings as of 2009-5-26-2009, the North Korean Football [Soccer] Federation is in second place behind South Korea [Republic of Korea] in Group 2 with ten points. In other words, it is currently competing against South Korea, Iran Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates for a spot in the 2010 World Cup. It is predicted that Iran or South Korea will become the top contenders for a classification for the 2010 World Cup.

The current statistics for the North Korean Football [Soccer] Team according to FIFA has been eight wins [with five out of three at home], four draws [evenly divided between home and away], twenty goals for, seven goals against, and two losses [both of them away].  It also accumulated 14 yellow cards and one red card for anti sporting behavior.

One of the top scorers is Hong Yong Jo who has managed to participate in the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. His career in football [soccer] was filled with victories over Saudi Arabia, and Iran in order to qualify for the fourth round. He was also instrumental in the victories of his country over Turkmenistan, Jordan, Thailand, and Yemen for the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers. His record was one of nine wins, six draws, eight goals for, five losses, and one yellow card while clocking 976 minutes played.

Jong Tae Se is another player from the North Korean Team with 899 minutes played with one goal, one goal for, four yellow cards, four wins, four draws, and two losses. He was also instrumental in the victory of North Korea over South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran in order to classify for the fourth round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Tournament. Jong Tae Se is one of the players of the North Korean Football [Soccer] Team to have received the most yellow cards.

The top North Korean Football [Soccer] Players who have clocked the most minutes played has been Ri Jun Il with 1235 minutes, Ri Myong Guk with 1126 minutes, Mun In Guk with 1079 minutes, and Cha Jong Hyok with 1050 minutes. The Team has left such an impression that the Iranian President announced that he is allowing the Iranian National Team to use the Presidential Plane for their latest qualifying game against North Korea.

It is hoped that the qualifying games go smoothly but many things cannot be predicted. According to the BBC, North Korea accused South Korea of «poisoning» its players before a qualifying game in April 2009. It was a charge that Soth Korea denied but again there have been attempts to mix politics with sports and it should not happen. The only thing that should predominate is good will and the art of sports especially football [soccer].