February’s AFC Challenge Cup provided Korea DPR with a perfect chance to test their fringe players, and after winning the continental championship, assistant coach Jo Tong-Sop announced that “four or five” of the title-winning team had a chance of making the plane to South Africa.

While tournament MVP and top scorer Ryang Yong-Gi would seem the most likely to earn his place in coach Kim Jong-Hun’s 23-man line-up, midfielder Ri Chol-Myong is also among the candidates after excelling throughout the campaign.

Though he is still just 22, the Pyongyang City playmaker is no stranger to the international scene, having represented Korea DPR at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru and the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada two years later.

He was also selected in the experimental side that played the opening qualifying fixtures for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, starting in both legs against Mongolia as Korea DPR progressed 9-2 on aggregate.