It’s reported the North Korean government banned Perugia’s Han Kwang-Song from appearing on Italian television.
The striker, who is on loan from Cagliari, became the first North Korean to score in Serie A last season, and has give goals in six games in the second division.
He was due to appear on Rai Due’s ‘Domenica Sportiva’ this weekend to discuss his form, but the appearance was pulled at the last minute.
It’s reported the North Korean government banned Perugia’s Han Kwang-Song from appearing on Italian television.
The striker, who is on loan from Cagliari, became the first North Korean to score in Serie A last season, and has give goals in six games in the second division.
He was due to appear on Rai Due’s ‘Domenica Sportiva’ this weekend to discuss his form, but the appearance was pulled at the last minute.
According to La Stampa, the reason was a phone call from Pyongyang warning the 19-year-old not to do the interview, after which he burst into tears.
Han had viewed the questions beforehand, with the newspaper reporting that nothing politically compromising was going to be asked.
Given the ongoing tensions in the region though, North Korea has banned its footballers from speaking on television and the striker was at risk of being repatriated.
Han is an international player and still has family in his homeland, so while the government couldn't force him to return, a refusal to leave Italy could be viewed as defection.
The signing of North Korean players by Italian teams has been controversial, with suspicion that a large portion of their wages is going back to Kim Jong-Un’s totalitarian regime.
Fiorentina signed Choe Song Hyok to their Primavera side, but terminated his contract in July 2016 after rumours that up to 70 per cent of his salary was going to the government in Pyongyang.
The matter is currently tied up in litigation, with the FIGC ruling that the Viola terminated the deal illegally.
However, the club has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, maintaining that his signing unknowingly breached UN and EU sanctions on North Korea.