Tournament News

No N. Koreans at Soccer City

2010-03-15 14:07
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Not a North Korean in site (File)

Johannesburg - No North Korean workers were employed on the building of Soccer City in Johannesburg, the construction company in charge said on Monday.

Project director Mike Moody from Grinaker-LTA said 98% of the workers on the project were South African.

Of the foreigners working on the project, none were North Korean.

This was in response to international reports saying about 1 000 North Korean workers were in South Africa helping to build or renovate stadiums ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

According to reports quoting a South Korean newspaper, North Koreans were working at four to five stadiums, including Soccer City in Johannesburg, where the opening and closing ceremonies and the final game will be staged.

The Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit was also reported to be using North Korean workers. The Mbombela Municipality could not immediately be reached to comment on the report.

The report said the sanctions-hit state sent the workers "in an apparent attempt to earn much-needed hard currency".

It quotes South Korea's Unification Ministry confirming that North Koreans were working in South Africa.

Local organising committee spokesperson Rich Mkhondo said he knew nothing about the workers and referred queries to the cities in which the stadiums were located.


Soccer City (AFP)

 

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