South Korea's players have stopped talking to the press. Not a quiet protest — a full boycott of media duties, triggered after reporters were caught on a hot mic mocking captain Son Heung-min's military service during training at the Guadalajara base camp.
The incident has rattled the squad at the worst possible time: a World Cup. Whatever was said about Son's service stint — which included tear gas exposure, live-fire drills, and 30km hikes — clearly landed hard enough to shut down the team's entire media operation.
Why this cuts deep
Military service is not a throwaway topic in South Korea. Every able-bodied man is required to complete roughly 21 months of service. The stakes around exemptions are real — athletes who win at the Asian Games or earn Olympic medals can avoid it. Son and his teammates earned that right by winning gold at the 2018 Asian Games.
Son still chose to complete a condensed three-week basic training course in 2020, during the Premier League's COVID-19 shutdown. That's not nothing. Being mocked for it — by your own country's press corps, at your own training ground — is the kind of thing that doesn't disappear with an apology.
The Korea Football Association issued a statement calling the comments "inappropriate" and said they caused "great shock and disappointment to the team." The KFA also asked media outlets to show "greater consideration and a responsible attitude" going forward.
The practical fallout
The boycott has limits. FIFA mandates certain media obligations, and South Korea will have to fulfil them regardless of how the squad feels. But the atmosphere around the camp has clearly soured.
A team already managing Son training separately from the group — whatever the reason — doesn't need internal friction manufactured by the press covering them. South Korea's odds of making a deep run depend heavily on their captain being in the right headspace. Right now, his own country's journalists are the ones creating the distraction.
The KFA says it will "prioritise the protection of the squad." The team's media officers didn't respond to requests for comment. That silence says enough.
