culture

Jong Sun Yong lives in neighbourhood unit No. 66 in Mirae-dong, Phyongchon District, Pyongyang.

Sun Yong became well known to the whole country along with the national flag hoisted by the DPRK women footballers after winning the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup last year. 

It is said that the flag was the one she had sent to the footballers leaving to participate in the world cup.

Why did she prepare and give the flag to the footballers? What unusual connection does she have with the flag?

Previously, she gained a reputation as a player and coach in the field of rhythmic gymnastics.

Her mother Choe Myong Sim, too, was a People's Athlete who devoted her whole life to the development of the country's rhythmic gymnastics for nearly 50 years. The elegant movements she showed in international games left an indelible impression on many experts and spectators at that time.

The TV series “Fluttering Ribbon” about Myong Sim was produced and broadcast.

The love of the mother for the national flag and her soul were inherited by Sun Yong.

The image of her mother flying the national flag in international games made a strong impression on her and she would draw the flag in her diary and homework notebook in her childhood. Later, she also became a rhythmic gymnast like her mother.

During her playing career, she flew the national flag in international games several times. Later, she distinguished herself as a competent coach.

Whenever she hears the national anthem of the DPRK resounding across the country at dawn, she recollects the worthwhile days in which she flew the national flag in international games.

She still cherishes the memory of her seeing the flag being hoisted while singing the national anthem with deep emotion and joy on the winner’s rostrum. Even after her retirement, she volunteered to support the events of rhythmic gymnastics and women’s football.

That is why she sent the national flag to the women footballers, requesting them to demonstrate the dignity of the country, before they left to take part in the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

The flag was just the one the women footballers fluttered running around the football ground after winning the championship by beating all their strong rivals and the one they waved so enthusiastically the moment they lifted the world cup.

They said the national flag associated with the expectations and sincerity of Jong Sun Yong and other sportspersons of the preceding generation always encouraged them in the so intense and difficult matches.