hankyoreh

” at Bongeun Temple in Seoul’s Samseong neighborhood

The results of the match were one-sided in the end, but the collective cheering gave fans reason for joy.

The area in front of Bongeun Temple in Seoul’s Samseong neighborhood was filled with people cheering on the North Korean national football team by saying, “Oh, Peace Korea!” on Monday night. The cheer was created by South Koreans, since “peace” sounds like pilseung, certain victory. They let cheered the North Korean players’ every move and flew a flag with a picture of a united Korean peninsula printed upon it.

“I am so sorry to see North Korea was defeated by Portugal, but North Korea did very well in the first half,” said Kim Min-kyoo, 28, who is in his senior year at Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary. Kim smiled for a moment before saying, “As you can see many, South Koreans are cheering on North Korea, which sends an important message in terms of inter-Korean relations.”

Although North Korea ended the match against Portugal with a 0-7 loss, around 1000 people did not leave the temple and stayed to cheer on North Korea.

The cheering section was organized by Radio 21 and the civic organization “Speak the Truth” to wish Jong Tae-se and the North Koreans well and to encourage them to put up a good fight. It embodied the wish of the people for inter-Korean relations, currently inflexible and knotty, to once again become peaceful, even if through sports.

Venerable Myeongjin, abbot of Bongeun Temple, concurred with this aim, and so opened the plaza in front of the temple. Myeongjin is director general of the Korean Community Movement, which pushes inter-Korean reconciliation within the Buddhist community.

“We had a bit of a difficult time deciding whether to hold this event to cheer on the North Korean football team, however, it has turned out to be an excellent decision,” said Venerable Myeongjin.

Radio 21 said the Red Devils, the supporters of the South Korean national team, hung a banner during the 2002 World Cup that said ”1966 Again!“ which evoked the 1966 World Cup, when North Korea beat Italy to enter the Round of 8. This is to say that just as North Korea and South Korea, once a part of the same nation, identified with one another back then, this time around, too, they have also wished each other well. Speak the Truth prepared some 30 televisions at Bongeun Temple, and provided instant photos to citizens by running a photo zone.

In a beer hall in Seoul’s Yangcheon District, too, about ten North Korean defectors rooted for North Korea, wearing t-shirts emblazoned with a map of a united Korea. These fans were members of Kumgangsan, an amateur football team for North Korean defectors. When North Korea played Brazil in its first match on June 16, they cheered on North Korea at a defector’s home, but this time they rooted for the team at a beer hall run by a defector.

Out of the desire for reunification, they wore a red t-shirt with a map of a reunified Korea and the slogan, “We are one,” and grew louder in their cheering with every move by the North Koreans.

During an interview with the Hankyoreh in April, North Korean footballer Jong Tae-se, the “People’s Rooney,” said he passionately rooted for the South Korean team at Tokyo’s Korea University during the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. It has been eight years since Jong cheered on the South Korean team with such enthusiasm, and in this World Cup, South Korean football fans have continued to wholeheartedly cheer on the North Korean team and Jong, who have entered the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

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