Prince Takamado, honorary president of the Japan Football Association, will probably attend the opening ceremony of the World Cup finals in Seoul, according to government sources.
If the prince, a cousin of Emperor Akihito, makes an official visit to South Korea, it would be the first such trip. It has yet to be decided whether the visit will be official, the sources said.
Even if the visit is unofficial, it will be the first time an Imperial family member has visited the country since Prince Tomohito, an elder brother of Prince Takamado, visited in 1990 to attend the opening ceremony of a goodwill photography exhibition.