It's difficult to decide which spelling to use. In Japan, the name of North Korea's striker at the World Cup in South Africa is usually rendered as Chong Tese. North Korea spells it Jong Tae Se, but in those instances where South Korea reports on the 26-year-old soccer player, it's Jeong Dae Se or Jung Dae Se.

I'll use Jong Tae Se, since he pins his national identity to North Korea, even though he's basically never lived there. Jong's tri-country background — born and raised in Japan by a father with South Korean nationality but educated in North Korea-affiliated schools — is irresistible to reporters looking for human interest color at the World Cup, especially given the contrast between North Korea's state-enforced conformity and Jong's strident individuality. He can't go anywhere without his hip-hop-stuffed iPod and even drives a Hummer, but he wept openly when the North Korean national anthem played prior to the team's match with Brazil, a scene that prompted derision in the blogosphere.

But while the international press explained Jong's circumstances, without a detailed background of the history of zainichi — Korean residents of Japan — much of their explanation necessarily fell short. Likewise, Japanese viewers might have found it strange while watching Fuji TV's live coverage of North Korea's pounding by Portugal last Monday to hear the announcers continually say that Jong plays for Kawasaki Frontale. What is a North Korean doing in the J. League? Isn't there supposed to be, like, an embargo?