After the violent conversation incident that injured Son Heung Min, young midfielder Lee Kang In faced a “boycott” from Korean audiences. Through this event, from the culture of seniors – juniors, the boycott culture was revealed, showing the importance and harshness in the land of Kimchi towards celebrities.
The explosion between Lee Kang In and Son Heung Min created waves in Korea. The incident took place right before the match between Korea and Jordan in the 2023 Asian Cup semi-finals on June 2, but on June 2, the incident was revealed.
Captain Son Heung Min wanted the whole team to have dinner together, but there were many young players, among whom Lee Kang In decided to play table tennis. After a period of riots and arguments, Lee Kang In caused Son to break his finger.
Internal consistency between generations of players has existed for a long time, divided into factions, but has been ignored by former coach Klinsmann (who was recently fired).
Lee Kang In apologized for his actions on his personal page. However, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder emphasized that he did not attack Son as some media reported.
Returning to defend Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League, Son Heung Min admitted that he had the most difficult week of his life. He did not directly mention the noise and said the national team is an important part of him.
Many people did not accept Lee Kang In’s apology, and even asked the Korean Football Federation to permanently ban the player born in 2001 from playing for the national team.
Senior – junior culture in Korea
Former players and the public criticized Lee Kang In for disrespecting Son Heung Min, who is 9 years older than him and is considered a “national treasure”.
Through his personal YouTube channel, former national team player Lee Chun Soo said he was “really hurt” by the news of the attack between the players.
“Honestly, I think this is something that should not happen. Korea is a country that has a way of handling and takes the “sunbae-hubae” (senior-junior) relationship very seriously,” he said, agreeing. Nowadays, the current recruiting culture is even stronger than when he played for Korea in the 2000s.
Korean culture highly values longevity, even if the difference is only one month. Hubae, which refer to less experienced people, are required to respect juniors – those who will guide and take care of younger members of the company, school or sports team.
When Guus Hiddink secured the position of head coach of the South Korean national team ahead of the 2002 World Cup, he aimed to abolish the fat classification system by requiring young players to use “banmal” – a way of speaking. informal is often used with younger people or mature people.
Lee Chun Soo is one of the young people at the forefront of change, contributing to improving communication between players leading to the famous semi-final in the world’s top soccer tournament.
Two decades later, insect culture in Korea still maintains, elder religion is characteristic of Korean society.
For those who love and regularly follow showbiz, the culture of behavior between queens and seniors is certainly no longer unfamiliar.
For Koreans, they value hierarchy and order, just a non-threatening action, without asking, can easily be corrected, considered disrespectful and accidentally “criticized” by public opinion. This culture is more seasoned than the company’s people.
In 2017, a famous photo was taken from backstage of the famous music show Music Bank, showing a large number of idols standing in lines in groups, waiting to ask questions from passing producers and program directors. via.
Not only that, the idols have to see people giving 90-degree salutes, shouting group slogans, and waiting for a long time after the recording ends.
There are not a few artists who have come forward to convey inspiration about cultural greetings that are overlooked and judged on how to treat juniors.
There are cases where the division of seniors and juniors does not depend on timing but on popularity. Solji (EXID) felt very friendly and was looked down upon when the group’s question was made her junior just because EXID doesn’t have a reputation.
Returning to the controversy of the Korean team, the internal division is also in the distinction between foreign and domestic players. During the pre-tournament training session, the reporter warned that the group of players would not be satisfied with a domestic defender campaign.
In November 2023, after the second qualifying match of the 2026 World Cup, a group of players playing for European teams such as Son Heung Min, Kim Min Jae, Hwang Hee Chan and Lee Kang In rented a private plane to return to Korea. Even though the team’s schedule hasn’t ended yet.
Pain from the culture of boycotting celebrities
Yonhap reported that KT – one of Korea’s leading telecommunications companies – has asked stores nationwide to remove posters with the 22-year-old star’s background image. The extended panels were produced for KT’s Galaxy S24 Series promotion.
A company official said KT has decided to end the promotion for Friday, a day earlier than the original architectural project.
Regarding the termination of the cooperation agreement with the Paris Saint-Germain player, this official said: “We are considering that possibility from many different angles, but nothing has been decided yet.”
Lee Kang In first signed a 6-year contract with KT in 2019, after winning the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament at the FIFA U-20 World Cup when he was just 18 years old.
