Coach Hong Myung-bo, the hot ‘issue’ of the soccer field
Coach Hong Myung-bo has been at the center of controversy in the soccer community. He became the coach of the national soccer team through the Korea Football Association’s power enhancement committee, but since then, he has faced backlash from social media such as YouTube. If you search for YouTube information by typing “Hong Myung-bo” as a keyword in “Some Trend,” a media big data company, from July 4 to October 31, it shows that 4,729 YouTube programs were produced, 184.69 million views, and 641,000 comments were written during the period. Unlike other sports, you can see the explosive power of soccer, which attracts public attention.
Coach Hong said, “I wouldn’t have accepted the coach’s offer if I wasn’t the No. 1 candidate,” but he suffered internal injuries as political disgrace hearings and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s audit of the Korea Football Association continued.
However, he overcame the crisis by ranking No. 1 in the group with four wins and two draws, including the draw against Palestine in the first Group B match of the 2026 North-China World Cup Asian qualifying round. Coach Hong Myung-bo, who once wore the Korean national flag ahead of his college senior year, has created a new model called “the defender who scored a goal” and “Rivero.” Attention is focusing on whether Hong will be able to turn the negative YouTube buzz produced this year into a positive story next year. [Kim Chang-geum, Senior Reporter]
No-kyung, who was like a professional baseball ‘pine tree’
The number of professional baseball players has surpassed 10 million for the first time this season. While Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers), who coined the new term “Doyoung, you have to live a sweaty life,” stands tall as the best star in the league, I would like to cite Noh Kyung-eun (SSG Landers). Born in 1984, Noh became the oldest hold king this year at the age of invincibility. He pitched in 77 games and posted an ERA of 38 holds (8 wins and 5 losses) with an ERA of 2.90. Ryu Taek-hyun (then LG) held the previous record of the oldest hold in 2007. He was 36 years old at the time.
Noh Kyung-eun’s baseball life was in turmoil. He was first nominated by the Doosan Bears in 2003 and started his professional career, but was traded to the Lotte Giants in May 2016. He became a free agent after the 2018 season, but spent 2019 in an “invincible status” because there was no team to call him. He returned to Lotte in 2020 but was released after the 2021 season. Eventually, he wore a SSG uniform through tryouts and entered his second heyday. It is not easy to become a title holder in his 40s, but he did it. Noh signed a 2+1 year contract with SSG for a total of 2.5 billion won (down payment of 300 million won, annual salary of 1.3 billion won, option 900 million won) after the season. He extended his contract until he was 43. Isn’t he a hope in his 40s.
There is no ‘post-Kim Yeon-koung’ to replace Kim Yeon-koung
“The greatest genius in the league.” “The focal point of Heungkuk Life.” “A player who will come out once every 300 years.”
Kim Yeon-kyung (36, Heungkuk Life Insurance), who wears the most modifiers in the history of Korean volleyball, will soon turn 37 years old. After putting down the national flag in June, he began to complain of difficulties due to physical limitations, saying, “I don’t think the coach thinks about my age,” and “I’m an age when I wake up in the morning.”
Again, the term “no business ahead of time” comes to mind, but Kim Yeon-koung is still superior and overwhelming in the court. She has displayed scoring and defense capabilities as well as her heyday this season, and her showmanship has become even stronger to catch fans’ eyes and ears. Among the top 10 players in the women’s scoring and attacking categories in the 2024-2025 V-League, Kim Yeon-koung is the only player born in the 1980s. She is 15 years younger than the youngest player, Merelin Nicolova (21) of Korea Expressway Corporation.
The volleyball community has been hoping for a “post-Kim Yeon-koung” to be born for many years, but this should be acknowledged. There is no “post-Kim Yeon-koung” to replace Kim. Kim is delaying her retirement, only looking forward to Heungkuk Life Insurance’s victory. Will she be able to fill the “last piece” of victory this season.
Basketball is fun! Because Choi Jun-yong is here!
This is Choi Jun-yong from Busan KCCC. A basketball player is good at basketball, so the game is fun when he is on the court. His position is forward, but I often get confused whether he is a shooter or a guard. He is a multiplayer. On the 10th, he also recorded his personal highest score (42 points) in a game. Shoot? Pass? It makes us look forward to what Choi Jun-yong will perform in today.
There are many players who are good at it, but he makes the game fun. He is No. 1 among Korean basketball players for his “no-look pass” form that tricks defenders. If he succeeds in scoring, he gives a happy ceremony, and if he fails, he wraps his head and suffers. Those feelings can be conveyed to the audience, making them immerse themselves in the game. There is showmanship. As soon as you win, it is as fun as you lose.
Outside of the court, he entertains basketball fans with his honest talk. When he praises No Look Pass, he jokes, “I’m bluffing because I’ve watched a lot of American basketball,” and even if he scores the maximum, he leaves a embarrassing “claim” that “it’s just one of the games that passes by.” Sometimes he is full of confidence and provokes the opponent team with unexpected remarks, but isn’t it okay to have at least one player like this who makes a “mild” basketball court lively.
He said on Media Day ahead of the season, “KCC” as the winning team. “Because I’m here!” With Choi, wouldn’t 2024-2025 professional basketball become more fun in the future?
Badminton Ahn Se-young’s small ball
“I was very disappointed in the national team who took my injury easy. At the end of this moment, I thought it would be difficult to go with the national team.”
Ahn Se-young, who won the women’s singles gold medal in badminton on August 5 (Korean time) in Paris, France, poured out her determined remarks. Although he wrote Korean badminton history with a golden smash in 28 years, he shook the Korean sports world by revealing the Badminton Korea Association’s poor player management system instead of tears of emotion. After enduring a chronic knee injury for a year, he publicized various absurdities that permeated the badminton world, saying, “Anger was my driving force.”
The butterfly effect produced by Ahn Se-young’s revelation was great.
Kim Hwang-tae, who swam to the Seine River without his arms
Kim lost both arms in August 2000 when he was electrocuted by a high-voltage wire while working on a cable construction. After living in despair for a year, he found hope through various sports. He tried track and field, Nordic skiing, and taekwondo to participate in the Paralympics. However, it was not easy. Since then, he has switched to a triathlon. The final ranking of the triathlon is determined based on the combined records of swimming (750 meters), cycling (20 kilometers), and running (5 kilometers). He managed to secure the right to participate in the Paris Paralympics. It was the first harvest for a Korean athlete with a disability.
At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, Kim swam across the Seine River at high speed with his waist and legs without any arms. It was such a tough fight that he said, “My goal was to survive.” Next, I rode a cycle and the floor was uneven, so I had a hard time. I fixed my prosthetic arm to the cycle and it broke down before the competition. Still, he didn’t give up and ranked 10th with a time of 1:24:01. He was the only one who didn’t have arms. Kim was beside him with his wife, Kim Jin-hee. After completing the course, they wiped away tears. “I was the first Korean to swim in the Seine. I hope many athletes will take on the challenge while watching me.”
Age Is Just a Number! Motorsports Jang Hyun-jin
Age is just a number. It was shown by Jang Hyun-jin (48). This year, drivers in their 40s were active in motorsport, and Jang was at the center of the event. He won the Super 6000 Class, the top competition of the nation’s largest motorsport “2024 One Super Race Championship,” at the age of 48. Although motorsport is less affected by age than other sports, it is a big change compared to the birth of a champion born in the 2000s last season.
Jang has won multiple competitions since his debut in 2006, but has never won a Super 6000 class trophy. He has achieved such achievements through consistent efforts over the past 18 years. A champion motor sports player does not just have to be good at driving. He needs to be in sync with the engineer and match the car. In less than a second, he has to decide whether he will pass the previous car. To this end, he constantly studied data, including analyzing more than 100 kinds of data.
Thanks to his hard work, he recently won another trophy. On July 19, he received the Driver of the Year Award at the Kappa Price Giving, the most prestigious award ceremony for auto racing. His passion to “run until the 60th anniversary” encourages us to enter 2025.
Shin Jin-seo’s 6th consecutive victory in Nongshimbae of ‘New Intelligence’ has come from behind to win
Korea Baduk’s status at the top of the world depends on several outstanding techniques. Cho Hoon-hyun’s first ever Ngshi Cup victory, Lee Chang-ho’s half-jip calculation, and Lee Se-dol’s one win against AlphaGo also show the power of Korea’s Go. In the era of artificial intelligence, Shin Jin-seo is keeping the pride of Korea Baduk by inheriting the genius genealogy of Iljidangcheon.
However, Shin’s behavior is even more phenomenal. At the Nongshim Cup held in Shanghai in February this year, he beat Chinese leading players including Xiao Chen Yu, Ke Jie, and Dinghao to come from behind to win six consecutive games. He has broken Lee Chang-ho’s record of winning five consecutive games (2005) to open a new chapter. In the human world, the team has set a maximum of nine levels of Go, but experts say that Shin’s energy far exceeds that of players. 메이저놀이터
Fans are ecstatic to see him destroying opponents with his brain movements without being disturbed in a highly difficult game of around 100 games a year. However, his personality is bigger than that. He strives to play Go, and does not shy away from difficulties around him. It is a deep humanity that a “machine” cannot encounter.
