By Lee Chang-sup
Jong Tae-se, 26, is North Korea's striker although his father is a South Korean. He is now the talk of town because of his peculiar background, freewheeling life style and creative thinking. In the cyber world, he is one of the most popular personalities.
He is a third-generation Korean resident of Japan. His mother is a North Korean. He said his birth place was the Korean community in Japan, neither Japan nor Korea. He and his parents are the byproduct of the divided Koreas and Japan's colonization of Korea.
Born and raised in Nagoya, he received his education at schools funded and supported by North Korea. He has never lived in the Communist country.
Many South Koreans in Japan enroll their children at North Korea-affiliated schools because they emphasize national identity and roots more than South Korea-linked schools. He had difficulty in becoming a North Korean player as Japan does not recognize North Korea as a country.
Despite legal problems, pro-North Korean associations in Japan allegedly helped him join the North Korean team in 2007. For the past three years, he has scored 15 goals in 22 appearances. The J-League player is the most popular North Korean footballer.
Tae-se means big world. His father named him Tae-se in the hope that he would fulfill his dream in the world.
During a flag-raising ceremony in South Africa ahead of the opening match between North Korea and Brazil, spectators could see tears running down his eyes. Was the crying the result of indoctrinated education or his true patriotism toward the North?
Later he said he could not contain his emotion for the honor of representing North Korea at the World Cup. Chung defends and glorifies the North Korean system. He said, ``You cannot sever blood ties with parents (North Korea) even if they commit a sin.''
His nickname is the People's Rooney after England striker Wayne Rooney. His hobbies include learning English, disc jockeying at home, singing in his car and cleaning his home ahead of a big match.
He loves hip-hop dance and the Wonder Girls. He wants to marry a South Korean Victoria Beckham, wife of England's football star David Beckham. His favorite song is ``Dokdo is Our Land." He said tears welled up in his eyes when he was watching the South Korean hit drama ``Winter Sonata." He is scared of cockroaches.
He learned English and Portuguese because of his plan to play for a European club. He also said he was ready to play in a K-League club if the remuneration package was attractive. He said sport transcends nationality, and that football can play a bridging role in improving inter-Korean relations.
A mobile phone company was to air a commercial featuring Jong and South Korean football star Park Ji-sung during the World Cup this month. The Koreas were to cheer together in South Africa. SBS was to provide coverage of World Cup matches to the North free of charge. All these festive events were cancelled following the sinking of a South Korean naval ship by the North.
It is a historic moment for the two Koreas to advance to the World Cup finals simultaneously. For the first time in 44 years, North Korea advanced to the World Cup although it suffered a humiliating defeat of 0-7 in a match with Portugal this week. Many Koreans sympathize with Jong crying in the pre-match ceremony.
He showed a lingering Korean psyche called han. Han is one of the difficult words to translate into English. It is roughly equivalent to lingering bitterness, hopelessness, self-resignation, sorrow, spite, rancor, regret, resentment or grief. Han means unrealized and unfulfilled dream that parents want their offspring to achieve. Han is a pent-up emotion ready to burst at any moment.
Koreans are sympathetic toward their compatriots in Japan. Their parents were forced to live there following Japan's conscription of them as forced laborers during World War II.
He may be a typical pro-North Korean resident of Japan. But you cannot understand him well from the stereotype Cold War perspective.
Even if he represents the North Korean team, he does not hate South Korea and does not want to live in the North. His ideological orientation is quite flexible like many of the South Korean generation of his age.
He said his birth in Japan was his destiny, which he cannot change. He said, ``As long as you were born, you have your own theme you can pursue in your life. I want to manage my destiny in my own way.''
Young South Koreans hate North Korea less than their parents and are not ideologically sensitive. They do not like to live in the North and joke about the dictator Kim Jong-il.
It is undeniable that many young South Koreans have a similar way of thinking and attitude as Jong. When the Jong Tae-se generation becomes national leaders, the Koreas will be different from what they look like now.
Lee Chang-sup is the chief editorial writer of The Korea Times. He can be reached at editorial@koreatimes.co.kr.
