Two N. Korean footballers sign contracts with Swiss club

(ATTN: MODIFIES detail, attribution in lead, ADDS club detail, other possible transfer)
GENEVA, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- Two North Korean football players have signed
contracts with Concordia Basel of Switzerland, marking the first-ever transfer
from the communist country into a European club, a local newspaper said Friday.
Pak Chol-ryong and Kim Kuk-jin, both aged 19 and members of the North's under-21
national team, arrived in Basel on Wednesday after signing the three-year
contracts, said the Basler Zeitung newspaper. Details of the deal were not
released, it said, adding that it took two years to broker.
The report said Concordia considers defender Pak and midfielder Kim to be
disciplined and tactically shrewd. The team plays in the Swiss Challenge League,
the second-highest tier of Swiss football.
The players were accompanied by a North Korean government official, who was
formerly an international referee and who will serve as their interpreter, it
said.
The report said more transfers could be possible. A third player was initially
set to transfer to Switzerland but could not come because of an injury, it said.