Tottenham Hotspur and Republic of Korea captain Son Heung-Min has finally broken his silence over the tumultuous fight that broke out ahead of Korea’s semifinal loss to Jordan in the Asian Cup a couple of weeks ago. Widely reported in the Korean media (and likely leaked by the Korean football association), Son dislocated two of his fingers breaking up a fight that also involved PSG star Lee Kang-In over a ping-pong game.
The incident, which I now am dubbing “PingPong-Gate,” was one of the catalysts for Korea manager Jurgen Klinsmann’s eventual dismissal from his position. In the midst of the fallout, there was also significant backlash among Korean football fans against Lee, who was perceived as being disrespectful towards Son and other senior members of the national team.
Now Son has tried to defuse the situation, posting a photo of him with Lee on Instagram along with an apology and a plea for forgiveness towards Lee.
“Hello, it’s Son Heung-min. Today, I want to talk about something a bit serious and challenging. Kang-in sincerely reflected on his actions and offered a heartfelt apology to me and all the players on the national team.
“I, too, made a lot of mistakes when I was young and exhibited bad behavior. However, I believe I am in the position I am today thanks to the stern advice and teachings of good senior players during those times.
“To ensure this doesn’t happen to Kang-In again, all of us players, as senior members of the national team and as captains, will especially watch over him so that he can grow into a better person and a better player.
“I also don’t think my actions were perfect, and I should be criticized for that. However, as a captain, I believe one of my responsibilities is to sometimes engage in unpleasant actions for the sake of the team. If faced with a similar situation again, I will act in the best interest of the team. Nevertheless, I will endeavor to lead the team more wisely and sagaciously in the future.
“Kang-in has been going through a very tough time since that incident. Please forgive him with an open heart. I ask this as the captain of the national team
“Regarding rumors about favoritism within the national team, it’s not true. We have always tried to focus on being one team, looking in one direction, despite receiving much love for our play. We sincerely apologize for causing such a tumultuous issue and we will work even harder to make the South Korean national team grows from this experience.
“Once again, I sincerely apologize as the captain of the South Korean national team.”
Lee reportedly flew to London (from Paris, not exactly a long flight, but whatever, it’s meaningful) to meet with Sonny and to apologize for his role in the altercation. The disagreement apparently started during a team meal when Lee and a couple of other younger members of the national team left the table to play ping-pong rather than stay with the rest of the team. There were suggestions that Lee behaved disrespectfully towards Son, who was encouraging them to return, and a scuffle broke out. Son injured two of his fingers in the incident, which were taped and visible in his first Tottenham match after the Asian Cup.
This isn’t the first time Sonny has gotten involved in some Korea national team beef as captain, and I always feel a little bit nervous writing about these incidents. It’s not my culture, and I feel like I only ever have the barest of grasps on the context of these stories within a Korean framework. What appears clear is that the concept of seniority is super important within these kinds of societal structures in Korea. Lee Kang-In is a talented player, likely a future superstar, but he’s still considered a junior member of the squad, until he isn’t. That feels, at least to me, to be the major issue behind all of this — Lee was petulant and was perceived to be acting above his station. His decision to personally fly to London to meet with and apologize to Son as Korea captain is, I think really meaningful gesture.
I think it’s important to acknowledge how magnanimous Sonny is being here. In his Instagram post he writes about how as captain he’s expected to interject himself for the sake of the team, but that he knows he also made mistakes when he was a younger player, which makes him able to understand better Lee’s position. He also says that he’s not a perfect captain, and that he’ll continue to work toward improving himself — this is also notable after Sonny’s public beef with Kim Min-Jae last spring.
Being Korea captain feels like walking a tightrope — you’re expected to be a leader, but also show appropriate humility to Korean football fans and to shoulder the burden of the team’s perceived failures. Son’s handling of this situation I think really speaks to what Ange Postecoglou said about Sonny’s leadership in recent comments to the press. While Ange didn’t address what happened in Qatar during the Asian Cup — he said it’s not really for him to speak on it — he talked about Son’s leadership as Tottenham Hotspur captain, and that being a leader means sometimes stepping into sticky situations because that’s what’s required.
“It was Sonny being Sonny. When you’re a leader, sometimes you get in the firing line. That’s what leadership is all about. Leadership is not about being popular and trying to make everybody happy, it’s about when you see something that you don’t feel is right then you stand up for it because it’s the best thing for the group. I see that in Sonny.”
Anyway, with this post, the hatchet appears to be — finally — good and buried. Hopefully it is no longer a distraction for Son, or for Lee, and they can both move on completely. The Korean media certainly has — the focus seems to have shifted from Son and Lee to Korean FA president Chung Mong-Gyu, who is now facing calls to resign.