Kwang Song Han was the first North Korean player to score in the Serie A. A former North Korean player in the league was Song Hyok Choe, he was a 18 year old talent at Fiorentina. The Parliament of Italy found out that 70% of wages were going back to the NK government, this ended in Choe being released. Michele Nicoletti, a member of the Italian parliament's committee on foreign affairs has expressed concern that North Korea is "extorting salaries" from its athletes based overseas as a way to earn foreign currency to avoid international sanctions. North Korea demanded at least 70% of wages earned by labourers overseas. North Korean labourers overseas have also been working in Qatar to build infrastructure for the 2022 world cup.
