North Korea World Cup coach forced to work unpaid as builder

The North Korea World Cup soccer squad, which lost all three of its games in South Africa, has been subjected to a humiliating public dressing-down. The hapless players spent six hours being lectured, in public, on their failure, during which they were accused of ‘betraying’ a son of dictator Kim Jong-il. More than 400 government officials, athletes and students looked on as each player was told how their mistakes contributed to the team failing in its ‘ideological struggle’ to win. Acting under coercion, every player blamed the defeat on coach Kim Jong-hun, who is thought to have been expelled from the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and forced to work, unpaid, as a builder. A source told South Korean media: ‘Coach Kim Jong-hun and the team were made to stand on a stage and other athletes and students took turns criticising them.  At the end, the team members were made to criticise their coach.’ Players ‘who participated in the World Cup were subjected to a session of harsh ideological criticism’, a Chinese businessman told South Korean media.  Experts on North Korea say the players actually got off rather lightly. ‘In the past, North Korean athletes who performed badly were sent to prison camps,’ one intelligence source said. — Daily Mail (U.K.)