the 1994 FIFA World Cup full of hope. Placed into Group C, North Korea finished undefeated, ahead of Qatar, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. The next round took the form of a single pool bringing together the six winners of the first round and the matches are once again held in Doha. Unfortunately for the North Koreans, after an inaugural victory against Iraq (3–2), they suffered four defeats in a row. The disappointment is immense, both for the Hungarian coach, who leaves his post after the last meeting and returns to Europe without returning to Pyongyang, and for the federation which puts the national team on hold for more than four years. During this period when the selection will tumble in the ranking established by FIFA, North Korea will thus choose not to register for any competition. This period of withdrawal coincides with the North Korean famine (1994–1998), causing hundreds of thousands of deaths. It also coincides with the official three-year mourning following the death of President Kim Il-sung in 1994, and the accession to power of his son Kim Jong Il. North Korea made their return to an official game in 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification. Placed into Group 8 along with Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan, Myong Dong-chan's men are only beaten by the Thais, and booked their ticket for the final tournament. They continue with the 2000 Olympic qualification but they finished second in their group, failing to advance. Following this, the federation again decided to sideline the team, withdrawing it from the qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup and for the 2003 EAFC. In 2003, it was with Yun Jong-su on the bench that the North Koreans started the 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification. After a preliminary round where they dismissed the Indian team (2–0 and 1–1), the Chollimas can not do better than a last place the second round. These playoffs are marked by two incidents: first, during the game against Iran, where the North Koreans left the field as a result of smoke bombs which have landed on the field, the second as North Korea refused to issue the Jordanian players visas, leading to the AFC granting Jordan a 3–0 victory and suspending North Korea from all competition in Asia for a year including the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. In 2005, the North Koreans returned to the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, twelve years after their last