Chinese fans anger South Koreans again. After last November’s disrespectful use of a laser pen against South Korean players during a match, recent inappropriate behaviors before and after a South Korea-China football match in the World Cup qualifiers have once again sparked outrage among South Koreans.
On June 11, during the 6th round of Group C of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers held in Seoul, the South Korean team defeated the Chinese team 1-0.
There were over 3,000 Chinese fans in the stands at the Seoul World Cup Stadium that day. During the match, some Chinese fans continuously booed the South Korean players, with some even hurling insults and making obscene gestures towards the South Korean fans.
In response, South Korean football star Son Heung-Min could not tolerate it any longer and at one point made a “3-0” gesture towards the Chinese fans, seemingly referring to South Korea’s 3-0 victory over China in a World Cup qualifying match in November last year.
Son Heung-Min explained during a post-match press conference that he couldn’t accept being booed at home, especially when South Korea hadn’t done anything to deserve it. He viewed it as a lack of respect towards South Korean fans.
Before and after the match, some Chinese fans posted on Weibo threatening to viciously tackle and break the legs of South Korean national football players like Son Heung-Min. They circulated photoshopped images, one showing Son Heung-Min in a wheelchair due to a leg injury, and another with four wheelchairs, each labeled with the names of key South Korean players who are also world-class athletes.
This behavior has ignited the anger of South Korean public opinion. Many South Koreans expressed their outrage online, stating, “Can’t play well, then think of how to play well. Want to break (the legs of Korean players)? Truly showing the actions of the Chinese Communist Party!”
“Being criticized worldwide, what hope can there be for it?”
“Look at the global anti-China (CCP) trend, then the answer is clear.”
On June 13, Seo Kyung-duk, a South Korean propaganda expert and professor at Cheongshim Women’s University, posted on Facebook that he received numerous reports of the photoshopped images, indicating how serious the “anti-Korea” sentiment within China has become.
South Korean people are furious due to the excessive rudeness of some Chinese fans, and this is not the first instance.
In a World Cup qualifier match between South Korea and China held in Shenzhen on November 21 last year, Chinese fans also displayed disrespectful behavior frequently.
Before the match began, during the playing of the South Korean national anthem, as an etiquette of a sports event, silence should be maintained. However, some Chinese fans loudly booed.
During the match, broadcast footage repeatedly showed Lee Kang-in being targeted by individual Chinese fans using laser pens on his face, neck, and shoulders while taking a corner kick. Son Heung-Min was also subjected to laser light during a penalty kick.
Furthermore, videos circulated on social media showed some Chinese fans hurling insults at the Korean cheerleaders holding flags, even making obscene gestures.
In the end, South Korea won the match against China 3-0. Professor Seo Kyung-duk reported this incident to FIFA.
Not only South Koreans but also some Chinese citizens feel ashamed of such behavior exhibited by some Chinese fans.
Political commentator Tang Jingyuan told Dajiyuan on the 16th that the behavior of Chinese fans, though appearing to lack manners and quality on the surface, is fundamentally related to the extreme nationalism incited by the Chinese Communist Party’s long-term brainwashing and nationalistic education.
He stated that such behavior, akin to the CCP’s unscrupulous means to achieve its goals in the international community, stems from the party culture of the CCP and is “an extremely distorted form of nationalism, rather than genuine patriotism.”