Son Heung-min Ancillary #7

Aidan Banan

Dochterman

Writ 150

October 25, 2021

Ancillary #7

Son Heung-min is one of the most well known people in South Korea. There have been numerous reports of females fainting while walking past him in the street. He is a forward for the football club Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. Before he came into stardom, Manchester United was by far the favorite soccer team for South Koreans, but Son’s existence propelled the mediocre Tottenham team to be by far the most popular among South Koreans. Son’s impact and popularity in South Korea is obviously unprecedented, but when his name comes up in the United States, a vast majority of Americans will say, “who?”.

Aside from the obvious distance gap from here to South Korea and lack of popularity of soccer in America, I believe that Son Heung-min’s popularity has not translated effectively to the United States because of major cultural differences between our countries. Son’s play and behavior aligns perfectly with South Korean culture: he is a reserved and polite individual, who plays the game of soccer with no trash talking, flashy play, or arguing. For the typical American, he is not an exciting player to watch and follow because he lacks any rowdy, unapologetic behavior that the American sports culture embraces. Look at Christiano Ronaldo for example. He is flashy, unapologetic, and exciting, and although he and Son are both top tier players in all of soccer, Ronaldo is a million times more popular than Son in America. And this is not a hyperbole.

Moreover, South Korea’s respect for age and status leads to children learning to be extremely polite to those around them. As a result, many Koreans are most comfortable interacting with someone when they see someone as their equal, which may explain why Son has not fully embraced his superstar status. He does not talk trash, show off, or show extreme emotion on the pitch because he was raised to believe these actions are disrespectful, and because he sees himself as nothing more than a talented soccer player.