SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) — The top South Korean football official has returned from his trip to Pyongyang, where he has proposed expanded exchange programs to his North Korean counterpart, the sport’s national federation here said Monday.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said its president, Chung Mong-gyu, came home Monday after attending the 46th East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) Executive Committee meeting in the North Korean capital.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Chung sat down with Ri Yong-nam, head of the North Korean Football Association. According to the KFA, Chung proposed to Ri that professional players in the two Koreas should hold exhibition matches, and that the women’s under-20 teams for both Koreas should hold joint training sessions ahead of the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

A KFA official said Ri only replied that the two sides should talk more about Chung’s ideas later.

“Chung only had about 20 minutes with Ri, and they didn’t get to discuss anything in depth,” the KFA official added. “We should be able to have further discussions with North Korea on football exchanges.”

   jeeho@yna.co.kr

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