Sewol disaster changes World Cup culture

Fans cheer as they watch a Korea-Senegal friendly match on an outdoor screen at Seoul Plaza in 2006. Seoul City officials may not open the Seoul Plaza for World Cup cheering events next month as the space is being occupied with an altar for Sewol tragedy victims. /Korea Times file

By Baek Byung-yeul

In the post-Sewol period, cheering for the national team in the World Cup soccer championship is likely to be different from previous years. The quadrennial festival will be held from June 13 to July 14 in Brazil.

The pre-World Cup fever has been dampened due to the April 16 sinking of the ferry Sewol, which resulted in 288 deaths with 16 people still listed as missing.

An active debate is underway on Daum, with 4,500 users signing a petition to change “Enjoy it, Reds,” the official slogan of the Red Devils, the country’s largest World Cup supporters club.

The petition argues that the word “enjoy” is unfitting for a grief-stricken nation.

A Twitter user, ID “jun****,” said, “I won’t go out on the street for cheering during the World Cup. I won’t even watch the televised matches, either. We still need a little more time to heal our wounded hearts.”

“Holding a booze party at a funeral? It is absolutely nonsense,” said a Twitter user with the ID “ji***.”

One member at Agora, a political discussion board run by Daum, said; “I won’t join the street cheering for World Cup. More than a month has passed since the Sewol ferry disaster, but there are still bereaved families who still have not been able to locate their loved ones.”

Mecca of street cheering

One impediment to large-scale World Cup events in Seoul this time around is that Seoul Plaza, the traditional Mecca of World Cup cheering here, is occupied as a place of mourning for the Sewol victims. Seoul City officials are torn between honoring their memory and preparing a platform for citizens to relish the World Cup in the exuberant fashion that local football fans are used to.

“Of course, we had initially decided to open the grass square to the public during World Cup, but that was before the Sewol ferry accident,” said Lee Joo-young, an official with the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Sports Promotion Division over the phone last Wednesday. “There is still uncertainty about when to discontinue the incense altar for the ferry victims. As such, we are unsure about how to use the square during the World Cup.”

The Red Devils are also mindful of the controversy that excessive cheering may bring at a somber time for the nation.

“We fully acknowledge that there are concerns over street cheering during the World Cup period, so we are deliberating on expressing our support for the national team in an appropriate manner,” Son Hyung-oh, a press agent of the Red Devils told The Korea Times, Wednesday.

“And we also know that we cannot force the public to go out into the street for cheering. The only thing we can confirm now is that we will send a support delegation of some 100 people to Brazil on June 15,” Son said. The Red Devils will announce the details of their plans for Brazil during an orientation Saturday.

With the Brazil World Cup only days away, the local media is still somewhat low-key in its coverage of the event. But some citizens are more forthcoming about embracing the world’s largest sporting events with the usual excitement.

“Whenever I pass by the mourning altar at Seoul Plaza for the Sewol victims, I still feel so sad, but we don’t constantly have to be so tragic. I think the World Cup can be a helpful device to change the national mood from grief to hope,” said Park Sang-joon, a 32-year-old Seoulite.

That’s the kind of thinking that the government wants more people to get behind ahead of the World Cup.

In a contribution to Hankook Ilbo on May 22, Kim Jong, the top policymaker in charge of sports at the culture ministry, recalled the case of the 1960 Chile World Cup that had been a symbol of hope at a tragic time for the South American country. Chile overcame the aftermath of the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded, to successfully host the 1962 World Cup.

“The World Cup is not just about football,” Kim wrote. “It is a chance for countries to upgrade their image. Also, as in the case of Chile, it can be a catalyst for overcoming a national disaster.”

The second vice culture minister said that Korea already has experience in using the World Cup as a chance for people to come together under difficult times. “Back in 2002, when we hosted World Cup jointly with Japan, the country’s signature street cheering was a source of encouragement for Koreans who were coming off a dire financial crisis.”

Despite what’s going on at home, the government will send a delegation to Brazil to introduce Korean culture and the country as a tourist attraction during the World Cup.

Seoul is not the only city that faces a downscaling of massive street Cheering. Busan, which allowed four venues to be open for cheering in 2010, will only use Haeundae Beach as a cheering platform starting June 18, when Hong Myung-bo’s youthful team plays its first World Cup match.

Ever since the country made its first World Cup semi-finals as co-hosts with Japan in 2002, each World Cup match featuring the Korean team has been an occasion for national celebration.

On the semifinal match day against Germany 12 years ago, more than a million people gathered at Seoul Plaza, the oval grass square adjoining the Seoul City Hall, and a total of seven million people nationwide flooded the street in the hope of a Korean victory.