FC Korea explained

Clubname:FC Korea
Fullname:Football Club Korea
Ground:
Akabane Park Stadium
Akabane, Kita-ku, Tokyo
Chairman:Lee Cheong-Gyeong
League:Tokyo League Division 2
Website:http://fc-korea.com/
Pattern B1:_redshoulders
Pattern Ra1:leftarm1=FFFFFF
Body1:FFFFFF
Rightarm1:FFFFFF
Shorts1:FFFFFF
Socks1:FFFFFF
Leftarm2:FF0000
Body2:FF0000
Rightarm2:FF0000
Shorts2:FF0000
Socks2:FF0000

is a Japanese football club playing in the Kanto Soccer League, one of the Japanese Regional Leagues.

History

The club was founded in 1961 as Zainichi Chosen Football Club. Initially it maintained links with Chongryon, the pro-North Korea organization of Koreans in Japan, and recruited talent through the Korea University sports program.

Following the admission of the abductions of Japanese people by North Korean Leader Kim Jong-il in 2002, however, the club severed links with Chongryon and adopted the name Football Club Korea, using the English pronunciation of the name of the peninsula (see Names of Korea). The club adopted a pan-Korean identity in order to attract players affiliated with the South.

In 2008 FC Korea was promoted to the Kanto League Second Division and in 2010 they were promoted to the First Division, where they stayed until 2016 when they were relegated. By 2019 they were back in the Tokyo Metropolis League Second Division, where they remain.

Zainichi Koreans international side

See also: United Koreans in Japan official football team.

In 2015, the United Korean Football Association in Japan (UKFAJ), an organization intended to promote the participation of the Korean diaspora in football on a wider basis, was founded, with a view to the formation of a dedicated Zainichi football team. This was achieved in November 2015, when the UKFAJ joined ConIFA, an organization designed to facilitate teams that represent unrecognized nations, sub-national entities and stateless peoples in playing international football.[1] The team representing the Zainichi people is based primarily around the FC Korea team. This team was subsequently selected as one of the twelve qualifiers for the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup where it came in eight.[2]

Current squad

Squad for the 2022 season. Updated as of 23 March 2022. [3]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.conifa.org/en/members/united-koreans-in-japan/ United Koreans in Japan
  2. http://www.conifa.org/en/2016/04/01/conifa-world-football-cup-2016-draw-is-set/ World Football Cup 2016 draw is set
  3. Web site: 2022 Squad. 23 March 2022. ja.