By Yi Whan-woo
Korea Times intern
The discord between the street cheering of the Red Devils, the supporters' organization for the national football team, and private companies for this year's World Cup clearly reflects that bona-fide cheering of sport has degenerated into a work of mobilization that requires financial backing.
The Red Devils announced Monday they will root for the South Korean team at COEX square in southern Seoul during each of its group stage matches on June 12, June 17, and June 23.
This time, it did not opt for Seoul Plaza, where the mass cheering originated at the 2002 World Cup, claiming it did not want to be "exploited" by commercialism as the use of the square has already been booked by big-cash companies.
Firms such as Hyundai Motor Company and SK Telecom retort that their running of cheering activities at Seoul Plaza is related to cost, as only conglomerates can afford the overall expense, aside from marketing their own brands.
Han Seung-hee, the Red Devil's subleader of its Seoul division, said the body has always been a genuine group of football supporters, and will stay that way at this World Cup as well.
"We will do our job at COEX square, and additional support will come only from Gangnam District Office," Han, 27, told The Korea Times. "(The Red Devils) reached an agreement with the office on the condition that no corporate brands will be exposed at all."
"We will provide all the costs for the security of citizens by mobilizing guards from the district office as well as ones from COEX," said Park Hee-soo, the Culture and Sports Division manager at the district office.
"While portable bathrooms are not available, spectators will be able to use the facilities at COEX and the Korea Electric Power Corporation headquarters nearby."
The civil servant, however, questioned the claim from the Red Devils on the reason for choosing COEX square as the venue.
"I never knew they were going to run the event in our district until this morning," Park told The Korea Times, Tuesday.
Park said the largest group of football supporters in South Korea could have contacted Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) instead to which the district office allowed rights to run the cheering event.
"As SBS will solely air all the World Cup matches, we asked the broadcaster whether the company would be interested in televising the cheering at this popular site.
"The corporation returned with a positive answer, and we let them have the area at no expense," He explained.
In relation to the criticism of commercialism that is feared to prevail in Seoul Plaza, SK Telecom refuted such an argument as "nonsense."
According to an anonymous source from SK Telecom, the two corporations have been selected by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to operate cheering events at the venue.
"Seoul City was open to anyone who was willing to run the cheering at Seoul Plaza," he said. "As the local government announced the rules in April regarding supervision of cheering, the only two candidates who reached the final stages were SK Telecom and Hyundai Motor Company."
Despite the fact that SK Telecom was highly interested in holding a cheering event at Seoul Plaza since last September, the company had to compete with the nation's largest carmaker, which has the advantage of being an official FIFA sponsor.
"The two conglomerates were chosen because they could afford the costs of cheering for the convenience of citizens. Considering the amount, small- and medium-sized firms would have had difficulty in providing sufficient services," he explained.
Hyundai Motor Company and SK Telecom are supposed to bear the overall expenses for security, bathrooms, media facilities as well as the rental fee for using the square, which is estimated to reach more than hundreds of millions of won.
SK Telecom said it would refrain from advertising their brands directly during events at Seoul Plaza.
"Participating citizens are free to enjoy the event as they like. You can even wear a blue shirt if you want," the anonymous official said.