The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) explained that North Korea’s World Cup games coverage without payment for its broadcasting rights is legal.

The ABU said it and FIFA had agreed to transmit the World Cup coverage to seven impoverished nations including North Korea, East Timor, and Laos immediately before the Games opened on June eleventh.

Prior to that, South Korea’s Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) accused North Korea of illegally broadcasting the soccer tournament after the North’s Korean Central Television aired a taped version of the opening match between South Africa and Mexico.

SBS recently won exclusive domestic airing rights to all Olympic and World Cup games in South Korea until 2016 by outbidding its rivals at KBS and MBC. SBS is claiming exclusive rights to cover the entire Korean Peninsula.