Experts: North Korea’s Chinese-made soccer uniforms might violate sanctions

Read a version of this story in Korean. 

North Korea’s national soccer team will kick off the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup on Thursday, but their Chinese-made uniforms might be part of a sanctions violation, experts told Radio Free Asia.

Chinese sportswear maker Inlang Sports posted on social media last week that the North Korean team would be wearing uniforms bearing Inlang’s logo for the first time in Thursday’s match vs Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

The company in January held a ceremony to announce that they had agreed to sponsor North Korean men’s and women’s soccer, and supply uniforms, but this arrangement could be in violation of sanctions intended to deprive Pyongyang of cash and resources that could be used in its nuclear and missile programs.

“Money transfers and joint ventures would likely be a sanctions violation,” Aaron Arnold, a Senior Associate Fellow at the U.K.-based Royal United Services Institute’s Centre for Finance and Security, told RFA Korean. 

“You could also feasibly argue that the uniforms are prohibited under the luxury goods ban, but that could be a stretch.”

UN Security Council Resolution 2270 defines sports equipment as “luxury goods,” but Alastair Morgan, the former ambassador of the United Kingdom to North Korea, explained to RFA how the uniforms might not count.

“The PRC … might argue that a sponsorship arrangement does not necessarily involve the supply of goods though it might do so, and/or that items of clothing are not ‘recreational sporting equipment,’” he said, using an acronym for the People’s Republic of China.

“Depending on the nature of the financial transactions involved, and whether the DPRK recipient was a designated entity, there might conceivably be other violations.”

Inlang’s sponsorship of the team also could mean that the North Korean uniforms could be sold to the outside world.

Inlang did not respond to RFA queries regarding possible sanctions violations.

This is not the first time that North Korean soccer has caused sanctions concerns. 

In the 2022 Qatar World Cup Asian qualifier match between South Korea and North Korea held in Pyongyang in 2019, the South Korean national team instructed its players not to exchange uniforms after the match due to the possibility of violating sanctions against North Korea.

Should the North Korean team qualify for the World Cup, it would be Inlang’s debut at the tournament.

In the 2022 Qatar World Cup, 13 teams wore Nike kits, seven went with Adidas, and 6 wore Puma. Six different makers outfitted the remaining six teams. Nike is also the current sponsor of the Chinese national team.

In 2010, the last time North Korea qualified for the World Cup, the team wore uniforms made by Italian firm Legea. 

Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.