Ian Sager Editor

It’s an event that soccer fans love and U.N. officials must dread: the World Cup draw, which often pits two adversarial nations against each other on one field.

Friday's highly anticipated event divides the 32 qualified nations into eight groups of four, setting the first-round matchups. Although complex algorithms are at the heart of the selection process, fate often seems to intervene — and in a fashion that doesn’t always help the global peace effort.

Past tournaments have reunited departed colonizers with their ex-subjects (Portugal vs. Angola, 2006), and forced historical adversaries to stand toe-to-toe (U.S. vs. Iran, 1994). These potentially combustible games delight fans, but can send elected officials running for the nearest bottle of Advil.

Next summer will be no different. Looming in the pot of potential soccer adversaries is, for many nations, an actual political adversary: North Korea.

A path to reconciliation?
Absent from the World Cup since 1966, the North Koreans qualified as the second team from a tough group, besting traditional regional powers Iran and Saudi Arabia. Their unblemished record in the capital city of Pyongyang and respectable tally away from home reveal a well-coached and hard-working team that, on their best day, can topple a tournament favorite. That being said, North Korea’s biggest threat to opponents won’t be leading scorer Jong Chol Min. Their most powerful weapon might not be a soccer player at all.

Given Pyongyang’s predilection for acting out when cameras are near, how will they react to taking part in the world’s most-watched sporting event? Will Kim Jong Il use the worldwide attention to dramatize tensions, or will he prove his communist nation's commitment to the conciliatory track?

The answer, according to Professor Charles Armstrong, Ph.D., director of the Center for Korean Research at Columbia University, will be disclosed in the months leading up to the games.

Slideshow Teams of the 2010 World Cup Shots of every country heading to South Africa, from Brazil to the United States

"North Korea will look to use the World Cup as an opportunity to show how they see themselves on the world stage. It could be a very positive step, if other aspects of the relations are also positive. If not, you will have much chillier relations," Armstrong said.

That does not mean that North Korea will act out at the games themselves. Rather, that the days leading up to the tournament might be filled with threats of impending missile tests and anti-American rhetoric. While the eyes of the world should be focused on the feats of the North Korean soccer players, Pyongyang could try to funnel some of the attention back to their agenda.

Although sporting events don't dictate foreign policy decisions, the sheer numbers of onlookers make them ideal thermostats for international relations.

The 2006 FIFA World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.29 billion viewers throughout the course of the tournament. The final, between France and Italy, attracted an estimated audience of 715.1 million people, according to FIFA.

Attention of that magnitude is not easy to come by, and it will be noteworthy to see how Kim Jong Il — a man known for making the most out of opportunity — decides to play his hand.

Recent evidence suggests a slight warming in relations between the U.S. and North Korea. While traveling in Asia, President Barack Obama announced that Stephen Bosworth, his special envoy to North Korea, would travel to Pyongyang on Tuesday to judge the possibility that nuclear disarmament talks could resume.

This comes just months after rare talks between former President Bill Clinton and the reclusive North Korean leader to secure the pardon of journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling.

North Koreans looked highly upon the Clinton visit, says Armstrong. In the months since, "They have been more interested in positive contact with the U.S., while relations between the Koreas have also improved. There have been setbacks, but over the last four to five months, North Korea has tried to show a much more positive face to the world.”

A statesmanlike posture?
Regardless of the draw, one fact is indisputable: North Korea cannot afford to let the limelight pass them by.

If Kim Jong Il truly yearns for his nation to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the world, now is the time to strike a statesmanlike posture. The World Cup represents North Korea's biggest stage in years, and offers them a chance to remake their image in the eyes of the world.

Now that would be a goal that would satisfy both soccer fans and U.N. officials alike.

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