North Korean youth soccer team arrived in South Korea Tuesday to participate in the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup, which opens in the nation on August 18th. The tournament will run through September ninth.

Led by manager An Ye-kun, the North Korean team comprises 23 soccer players who took part in a monthlong training visit to the South in March.

The head of an association on inter-Korean sports exchanges, Kim Kyung-suk, said that North Korea advanced to the quarterfinals at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru. The team aims to reach the semifinals in this year’s competition.

North Korea is in Group B with England, Brazil and New Zealand. It will meet England for its first match on August 18th in Seogwipo, Jeju Island.