TEMBISA, South Africa, June 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's World Cup team on Friday held a practice session with its full roster, following a media report that some of its players may have fled the team to seek asylum from their communist home country.In its group opener with Brazil on Tuesday, which it lost 1-2, four players -- forward An Chol-Hyok, goalkeeper Kim Myong-won, midfielder Kim Kyong-il and defender Pak Sung-hyok -- were listed as absent on the official roster provided by FIFA, which sparked speculation by some South Korean media that they had tried to seek asylum.
North Korea initially submitted the full list of its 23-man squad as available for the game but the number was revised to 19 on match day. At a practice session held at the Makhulong stadium in Tembisa, near Johannesburg, however, all 23 players of the North Korean team, including the four in question, were seen taking part in the team drills.
"The report appears to be based on a rumor that began by a clerical error at the North Korea-Brazil match," Gordon Watson, a FIFA media officer, told Yonhap News Agency. "Apparently the four players were with the team's technical group by the bench."
"There are no dramatic events here and it was a genuine human error," Watson said when asked whether the players may have sought asylum through foreign embassies here.