A SURPRISING HISTORY LESSON

You may be surprised to learn that hockey exists in North Korea. Not only does it exist, but there are also over 1,200 players in the country at all levels and it’s been around since the Korean War.

First popularized by Soviet and Chinese soldiers in the 1940s and 1950s, ice hockey is actually a well-known, albeit not very popular, sport in North Korea. There are eleven professional hockey clubs in the country today (six men's teams and five women's teams), along with numerous provincial and youth teams. North Korea’s traditional hockey towns include Pyongyang, Kanggye, Hyesan and Samjiyon.

Founded in 1955, the Korean Ice Hockey Association (KIHA) is the governing body for hockey in North Korea; they are responsible for recruiting players from across the country, operating the children's and youth leagues as well as organizing tournaments and facilitating the overseas participation of the DPRK National Teams. The KIHA officially joined the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in 1963 and has been regularly participating in IIHF tournaments throughout the 2000s.

North Korea’s official winter sports club is called Taesongsan and they have hockey and winter sports training facilities in Pyongyang city. Other local hockey club teams are run by different departments, including the DPRK Fisheries Department and the Pyongyang Railway Bureau. They compete in five domestic round-robin tournaments a year. Additionally the men’s and women’s national teams travel abroad annually for the IIHF tournaments in March and April.