play the last half hour with ten men against the Polish selection led by Grzegorz Lato and Andrzej Szarmach, who each scored twice. The following two qualifying campaigns, for the 1978 World Cup and for the 1980 Olympics, were failures. The former was cut short with a withdrawal for diplomatic reasons, the North Koreans finding themselves in the same qualifying group as their southern neighbors, and in 1980, the Chollimas finished in 4th place in Group 3 of the pre-tournament, overtaken by Iran, Singapore and China. In 1980, this time with Yang Seung-kook on the bench, the North Koreans took part in 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualification which saw successes against Thailand and Malaysia. They finished in second place in Group 1 of the 1980 AFC Asian Cup, behind Iran, the defending champions. In the semi-finals, it is an event that is of both sporting and political significance since it is against South Korea. After opening the scoring very early, North Korea conceded two goals by Chung Hae-won in the last ten minutes and saw their journey come to an end in the semi-final, their best performance in the Asian Cup of Nations. The game for third place was a disaster, with a 3–0 defeat against Iran. From one Asian Cup to another (1981–1992) In 1980, with former international Han Bong-zin on the bench, the North Koreans moved on to 1982 World Cup qualification. After finishing top of their group (ahead of Hong Kong and Singapore), they eliminated Japan in the semi-finals but lost to China in the group final, ending any hopes of qualification. The following year, the selection participated in the 1982 Asian Games. North Korean progressed through the first round (drawing against Syria and Saudi Arabia and victory against Thailand), then beat Japan in the quarter-finals. They lost in extra time in the semi-finals, against Kuwait. The end of the match was extremely turbulent as the North Korean players attacked Thai referee Vijit Getkaew. The penalties from the AFC are heavy with a two-year suspension, which began as soon as the match ended, therefore they did not even play the match for the bronze medal, which automatically went to the Saudis, other unfortunate semi-finalists. The immediate consequence of this decision by the AFC is the disqualification of North Korea from the 1984 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers and from the 1984 Olympic qualifiers which are anyway boycotted by