(13 June 2006 5:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Switzerland based sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media has inked a broadcast agreement with the Korean Broadcasting Commission of South Korea (KBC) for Fifa World Cup for the territory of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).

KBC has acquired the broadcasting rights on behalf and for North Korean’s national broadcaster, Korean Radio and Television (KRT), and agreed to support KRT with the broadcast of all 64 matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup via satellite transmission, according to an official release.

KRT is planning to transmit the matches of South Korea's national team as often as possible.

For the first time in history of the FIFA World Cup there will be licensed coverage of the world's single biggest sport event in the closed Communist country.

“The power of the Fifa World Cup is able to bring down barriers of all kinds. The fans in North Korea are now able to enjoy world-class football and experience first hand how the Fifa World Cup brings nations together,” said Infront executive director Oliver Seibert.

Infront is exclusively responsible for the worldwide marketing and sales of the broadcast rights to the 2006 Fifa World Cup. The company has made the event more widely available than ever before. The release also add that there will be the highest number of broadcasters (more than 500) in the history of the Fifa World Cup and coverage provided in virtually every country of the world.