South Korea will head to the men’s FIFA World Cup for an Asian-record 12th time next year, but while they contend for soccer glory, North Korean players will have to follow the world’s most-watched sporting event from home after an abject qualifying campaign.

With its elimination from contention for the fourth consecutive World Cup, the DPRK highlighted a vast gulf between the two Korea’s men’s soccer teams that has only grown over the past few decades.

But South Korea’s rise is all the more remarkable as the North was the first to make a splash on the world stage with