True Story: Reporters covering Korean Football

We've heard from supporters about what makes the K League community so special. This time I asked journalists in the country about their favorite experiences, which club has the best press box, and what it was like covering football during the pandemic.

I have an All-Star selection for the return leg of the K League experience series.Paul Neat, News and Creative editor at K League United loves the limelight, so he's back between the sticks to ensure nothing malicious gets past for the lawyers to worry about. Protecting Paul we have K League United's Managing Editor, and another familiar voice to regular podcast listeners, Matthew Binns.

Jung Mu-yeol, the website correspondent for Daegu FC and holder of an official referee's license, is in midfield. K League TV announcer Alex Jensen covers the TV aspect from an attacking role, and captaining the side we have one of Korea's most prominent football commentators, So Jun-il.

Despite graduating with a degree in Journalism and Media Communications and working at various Dublin radio stations before moving to Korea, my time spent with K League United has been the most enjoyable. As Denzel Washington says, it's the little things. These include confused match-day staff, fellow journalists peaking at my ID card to see who I work for, the dosiraks at Suwon Stadium, attending a post-match press conference with just one journalist, and explaining to translators that I don't speak Portuguese.

But I've also asked Diego Simeone and Kevin Muscat questions, sat in marvelous World Cup stadiums, and met with affable local journalists. The best view from a media box nationwide must be at Incheon United, the most professional and accommodating club in the top flight. However, the clubs in K League 2 are the best. Interview? "No problem." And then the goodbyes. "Please come back to our club again." Take a bow, Seongnam FC. You are unlikely to win K League 2, but you're the clear front-runner for two prestigious awards;Most Obliging Club and Most Helpful Media Staff.

Favorite Memories

So Jun-il is the face (or voice) of Sky Sports in Korea ("not related to the UK company" he insists). Jun-il is also ridiculously popular with football fans around the country. After every game, he shares pictures taken with fans on his Instagram story. And there are many. It isn't just players who need to perform fan service. Jun-il is also seen chilling out with fans before or after games, going live on Instagram as fan groups go through their repertoire of songs. His range of sports continues beyond football. "Tennis, volleyball, handball, eFootball Series, and other sports." Not to mention award ceremonies and welcoming Diego Simeone and Ange Postecoglu to Sangam.

Jun-il's most memorable moment is similar to mine. My Instagram followers will know I'm obsessed with Suwon Bluewings' second-half umbrella showpiece. A friend recently visited Korea and described Suwon's fans "as the closest I've seen to Latin America outside of Latin America." On Instagram,tomOntour continued that while Suwon fans "take heavy influence from Argentina's Barra Brava; the support still felt unique and could be heard throughout."

Suwon, sadly, went down in 2023, and promotion (especially automatic) looks like a tall order now. Cheonan, Ansan, and Seongnam will enjoy these umbrella parades instead of Pohang, Jeju, and Gangwon. Jun-il was blown away by the umbrella display and the post-match chanting of the Frente Tricolor last November on a special (but ultimately fruitless) night for Suwon's suffering supporters.

"Last year the Super Match in the 37th round at Seoul was the best one," when asked about his favorite memory of commentating on a game. "As you remember, that was a super cold day. Over 36,000 fans (nearly 8,000 away fans) gathered, creating a great atmosphere. I'd never felt like it before. It was a battle, not just a match. The surface was in such a bad condition, players slipped away again and again, then Bassani scored (who was heavily criticized), Suwon got a big 3 points to avoid relegation at arch enemy."

Rodrigo Bassani's goal was classic number 10. He slipped a pass to An Byung-jun, whose deft flick completely took Osmar out of the game. Bassani regathered from An, sprinted towards goal, and drilled a cracking left-footed finish into the bottom left corner. Started and finished by a man who, as Jun-il says, was heavily criticized, yet in a more familiar role is excelling for Bucheon. It was a special goal, and the away end went absolutely crazy.

"When I saw their passion, I can't help to say some comments to praise them," Jun-il continues. "From their song called'Vamos Millonarios', I brought some lyrics for my comment. That was one of my best calls. Great memory." That night we posted videos of the Bluewings' fans outside the stadium to Instagram. It was cool, but it didn't have a happy ending.

Alex Jensen has also made his name in Korea as a football commentator and he has picked out one very recent game as a highlight of his 5-season career in Korean football. "This year was pretty amazing to be commentating when FC Seoul won 5-1 at Jeonbuk," Alex recalls. "It was a highly unlikely result given how dominant Jeonbuk had been against Seoul for years - and something about Ronaldo bursting forward to score the 5th just felt like a meaningful moment to be broadcasting." Not only that, Alex's calling of that goal went global. "The K League put that clip on Instagram too, and many of the Korean fans commentating didn't even realize that we did commentary in English!"

I don't have the level of press experience as my esteemed colleagues so my choice for the most memorable moment is very easy. It was a privilege to have been part of Incheon's maiden continental voyage but the game against Yokohama F. Marinos stands out. Incheon won 2-1, but the best player on the field was their goalkeeper Kim Dong-heon. The Yokohama fans were amazing that November night, with many shirtless in the freezing Incheon air. One of their songs from that night has been adopted by FC Seoul, Ulsan HD, and others.

Commentating on Korean football

To get this far, Alex has put his time in across the board. His big chance came during COVID-19 but before then he was working for LBC in London and for ESPN and Motors TV as a freelancer. "Since moving to Korea in 2010," Alex introduces himself, "my work has focused on a wide range of Korea-related topics, from hard news to the Olympics, but it was not until 2020 that I had the opportunity to focus so strongly on football again."

Some would regard this as the dream job. Alex's voice is heard across the globe onwww.tv.kleague.com, but just because he gets the pick of the games every weekend, it has challenges. In fact, Alex identified three areas that made the job difficult, especially at first. "Initially, the biggest challenge was creating my own database," Alex claims. "Getting to know all the different nuances of Korean football and the stories of many players is not something you can do overnight."

"Aside from that, the biggest challenge is probably making sure that every single game has a compelling reason to watch. Fans of the teams involved don't need that reason, but neutrals or newcomers to Korean football need to feel a sense of drama even when a game is unfolding with some patient build-up play."

The next one sounds daunting, even to a seasoned professional. "I am also commentating on my own," he notes wearily, "which is a very different discipline to having a co-commentator. I think different people have different approaches, but I try to reflect games with a natural energy and add some of the comments that a co-commentator might normally bring."

But that is worth it when you're announcing to a global audience the most significant events in Korean football of the last half-decade. "The moments where a team has confirmed the title, or confirmed relegation, have been huge. Ulsan breaking Jeonbuk's hold on the title, for instance, was massive for them and for Hong Myung-bo. Also in that first season, Incheon's recovery to survive relegation was an amazing story."

Joining Alex and Jun-il in the commentary box,Matthew Binns has mostly swapped the pen for the microphone and his English tones can be heard from Mexico to Malaysia. This is no easy ride, he admits. "It still unnerves me if I am left too long to dwell on something so I have to rely a lot on routine in the hour or so before. I have a tendency to overthink so, for me at least, it is a race to get the broadcast started to narrow my focus to just the game itself, even if it is the thought of being underprepared and a countdown in the first place that is making me anxious!"

You can feel the apprehension in his words. "You think it would get better but I get equally worked up about title deciders as I do for mid-season, mid-table matches that I’m not sure many are watching!" However, as Matt says, someone is always listening and you owe it to them, and all the viewers, to be neutral and fully prepared.

"There is someone out there though who will always know the teams you’re commentating on better than you," he continues, "and you want to do the broadcast justice so they feel their club and their players have been fairly represented. I think we all have those experiences of watching a match on TV at some point with our own team and getting upset at a commentator getting names wrong, missing out key information, or just not explaining things properly."

The Press Box Experience

The only real negative, in my opinion, is that occasionally the staff have no idea where the media seats are. It seems to be a rule at a professional level in Korea that the match-day-only employees are either tough-looking men in black suits, slick hair, and earpieces dangling down the sides of their faces. Or, they are young men and women - perhaps college-level - in high-vis t-shirts who check media passes, and stand by elevators and entrances to the seating area.

When you ask the high-vis crew, in Korean, where the media room or media seats are, often they don't know. There's a frantic scramble to locate a senior employee who has the answer to this tricky question. Once you are familiar with a stadium, this isn't an issue. But for first-time visitors, it is frustrating. At the recent Cup game in Solteo (my first visit to Gimpo's media section) it took 20 minutes to locate the press area. At one point, a member of staff had to bring a younger employee out to the edge of the pitch and point up into the stands.

On the other side, the positives greatly outnumber any minor negative experience. The view from most press areas is exceptional. My favorite is the Incheon Football Stadium, as mentioned before. The desks are at the perfect height, bang on halfway. As Paul notes below, the Suwon press box is too high and because the upper west stand is deserted, you don't get a feel for the occasion. But the worst is Suwon FC's. I've shared a desk with Ulsan officials (which was interesting), other reporters, and, oddly, people with tickets to the premium seats. At Castle Park, several media seats have an obstructed view.

Paul Neat is originally from Preston and featured in our recent article on the K League experience from the stands. Unlike, say, me, his involvement in Korean football extends far behind the four walls of the K League United studio I've never been allowed to enter. "I currently work for Arirang News as a news editor and sports presenter. Also, I'm the managing editor of K League’s English homepage, and as a commentator for K League TV." The man has more titles than a dictator.

Paul believes that "the media are pretty well looked after," although it depends on the club, but "you get a meal provided and parking is free." Those Suwondosiraks are legendary. At Big Bird, you might even get a get Subway sandwich. Jeonnan gave me a hamburger. "The press boxes are usually in good locations of the stadiums and give a great view." We'll return to that later.

Matthew also loves the food in the media centre but he insists that "the media officers at the clubs make the press experience." Here he singled out Jeonbuk Motors, FC Anyang, Bucheon FC 1995, and Incheon United as the best. Why? "The members of staff at these clubs move heaven and earth to make sure you get the interviews and the information you need." But he does concede in both leagues "a lot of people are working very hard" to offer reasonable assistance.

For Paul, there's one problem, which is exasperated by the late evening summer kick-offs. "It takes a long time for the players to come through the mixed zone." If you're planning to interview a player from the winning team, the wait is long. The team will do a lap of honor and take photos with the main supporters' groups. That's followed by more changing room photos released to Instagram, then showers and a meeting. It is only then they make their way out to the mixed zone. For a 19:30 Saturday start, it'll be well after 10 pm before they emerge.

K League United's Daegu FC correspondent Jung Mu-yeol sees the positives in the mixed zone experience. "It’s a fantastic transition from the stands to media boxes," he emphasizes, "as we have such a privilege to speak to players and managers firsthand. It’s not something I could imagine I would do before, but this feels still surreal sometimes." There is one drawback, which Paul mentioned when watching Daejeon. "Sometimes it’s difficult to process what happens in your team’s game, particularly in a bad way when you have to hold back your emotion and remain calm and neutral."

Atmosphereic Stadiums

I've always been intrigued by which stadium is the most atmospheric when you are lending your voice to the on-field action. Jun-il remarks that "each stadium has its own moments. In Seoul, the very first minutes when the match kicks off. They shout 'Seoul is coming!' Thrilling." I loved his second memory. "Ulsan singing'farewell song'." Last July, I saw Ulsan serenade Jeonbuk off the park with a rendition of that song, following a 1-0 win. It was epic, and I have a video to remind me forever. "At Jeonbuk and other places, they have at least one hot moment."

Jun-il continues. "As a presenter, the voice of the audience is most important. I do my job listing and feeling that sound from the stand. So I prefer stadiums where fanatic supporters are living. Especially like Incheon, Suwon." Jun-il likes to post short clips of goals scored using his commentary, from the commentary box. One in particular sticks out. It was Ataru's 93rd-minute winning goal for Ulsan against Jeonbuk Motors. The emotion, the importance; he captured it perfectly. It is stirring TV, presumably helped by the 29,007 fans in attendance.

"And I also want to say about Daegu." Daegu are famous for their sold-out games, a remarkable achievement even in a small stadium. "They have the greatest stadium for broadcasters," Jun-il elaborates. "It is a renovated small stadium with great facilities. Almost every stadium has broadcasting seats outside. It's good for hearing and feeling heat but harsh in summer and winter. Daegu has a broadcasting booth inside but you can open windows. It means no barriers from inside to outside. Cool wind from the air conditioner and heat from the spectators. Perfect place," Jun-il ends, with a smile.

As one reporter once told me, "There is no World Cup Stadium that can beat the 'Football Stadium'." In the top divisions, Pohang, Daegu, Incheon, Gimpo, Jeonnam, Gyeongnam, and Gimpo pay at football-specific non-World Cup stadiums. The problem for Seoul is they could attract 45,000 fans for a home game with Ulsan, but there would still be 23,000 empty seats.

Returning to Daegu, Mu-yeol is there for every home game. In 2018 Mu-yeol "stumbled upon K League United where the Daegu correspondent slot was vacant." Having already decided he wanted to give something back to the game "in other roles like a journalist and a referee" taking on the challenge of reporting on a then-yo-yo club like Daegu "was a perfect place for me to get into journalism". Mu-yeol has been there for "relegation, promotion, and winning the FA Cup." Drama.

"Seoul World Cup Stadium," is Paul's answer to the best K League stadium from the media seats. "It seems to have really good acoustics. The media area is located very close to the main core support behind the goal so they sound really loud." In fact, so close are the fans to the edges of the media section, that they often peer across the narrow aisle to see what you're writing. Popular Korean broadcasters will be asked for a selfie. "The press box at Suwon World Cup Stadium." Paul continues, "is probably a bit too high to really soak up the atmosphere." In reality, the seats at both Suwon clubs are not ideal.

Paul experiences one major problem at the press box; his loyalty to his club. "Obviously, if I cover a Daejeon game I have to behave myself." The Korean media box hosts local and national journalists, employees of the K League making graphics, and media and other club officials from the two teams. You assume the section is mostly quiet, a place of writing and checking highlights. But when one of the teams scores, that club's officials celebrate wildly. And in some cases (looking at you, Suwon) local journalists are known to momentarily cheer a goal scored.

It is obvious that European clubs, for instance, are paying even closer attention to Korean talent and that will only further encourage youth development here.

The Boy Can Play

As my time in the press box has been short (approximately a year since I made my media debut when Bucheon drew 0-0 with Cheongju), I can't say with any certainty that the standard of football has improved. Also, my main area of focus is K League 2, and while the division is full of technically gifted stars (Pllana, Valdivia, Paulinho, Bassani), I don't know if this is a recent development. Alex, however, is under no doubt. The improvements are evident.

Alex Jensen is well-known away from the football field, too. He hosts a show called North Korea Now for Yonhap News. Screenshot taken from Yonhap News.

"I think about this quite a lot," he adds excitedly. "There's a lot less passing across the back now and teams are becoming more entertaining for neutrals. Yes, the style of play can still be frustratingly indirect or overly patient if you're used to Premier League football, but that is usually in the early part of games when the teams are feeling their way into games."

And unlike last season, we have a genuine title race as August begins. The top 5 in K League 1 are separated by just 5 points while the relegation battle is as fierce as last season. This looks like the most exciting season in years. "The 2024 season has also been a thriller so far because the title race is wide open as is the battle against relegation. I have never seen it like this before and hopefully, that is a positive sign of things to come."

On July 28, Gangwon's teenage sensation Yang Min-hyeok signed a five-year deal with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Yang will move to London in the new year, seeing out the rest of the domestic season with his current club. At the time of writing, Gangwon FC are second, two points off Gimcheon Sangmu. A little under 12 months before, Gangwon avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth. Who would have guessed the Gwangju-born Yang would have thrived in a title challenge at his age?

In 25 games, Yang has eight goals and four assists. His performance against Incheon United, especially, was utterly sublime. Gangwon ripped Incheon to shreds in April, winning 4-1, and Yang was central to everything they did.

Alex goes deep on the topic of youth development when he discusses the major changes in K League down the years."There's a lot of talent coming through. Over the last five seasons, there has been a rapid emergence of young players with great potential. Partly this has been encouraged by the U22 rule ensuring young players get minutes, but I think it's also the fruit of an organized grassroots system of talent development nationwide."

Alex believes it is "obvious that European clubs, for instance, are paying even closer attention to Korean talent and that will only further encourage youth development here." And it isn't just Yang who has caught the eye. "I felt a strong personal connection to Cho Gue-sung. He was coming through as an U22 at Jeonbuk when I first started commentating and to see him grow as a player and become a big name for multiple clubs and his country was very satisfying."

While neither young nor up-and-coming, Alex has also picked out the arrival of Jessie Lingard as a huge moment in the 2024 season. Lingard has 32 England caps and played 149 Premier League games for Manchester United. We've never seen an international player arrive with Lingard's experience level or profile. Hopefully, he's a game-changer for Korean football.

"The Jesse Lingard story has been great this year because it has been another way to engage with the wider football world. It is always intriguing to see how arrivals will do in the K League, and I have been very impressed with Lingard's attitude and willingness to persevere here in what has been a challenging season for him and Seoul."

The Pandemic And The Uncertainty

On Wednesday, February 19th, 2020, I went to the Suwon World Cup stadium to see Andres Iniesta start for Vissel Kobe in the AFC Champions League. This was my second time watching Iniesta in action. The first was nearly 20 years before, just as he was breaking into the Barcelona first-team squad. Kobe won 1-0. Little did we know, that would be the end of football for a few months. The following morning, a COVID outbreak at a church in Daegu brought life to a screeching halt.

Football and baseball were canceled indefinitely. Schools closed, and many workers were told to stay home. As it transpired, it didn't last particularly long, and both sports managed to complete their 2020 domestic seasons. Restrictions were put in place for fans especially; initially, doors were closed then socially distanced seating, mask-wearing, no shouting, and a ban on alcohol sales were just some of the temporary moves to prevent the spread of COVID-19. How did the journalists cope?

[READ: Stadiums of K League 2 ranked]

Matt was one of the first - and very few - journalists worldwide to have access to a stadium during COVID-19. More than anything, you can hear the appreciation in his voice. There is no competition here. Reporters understood what a privileged position they were in.  "Having those empty cavernous stadiums, and being able to hear every kick of the ball and every instruction, makes you appreciate how even a modest support can provide the needed needle and tension required for a decent spectacle."

He acknowledges he was "fortunate to be there. That first match in May 2020, the first to bring back football globally, felt like everyone in that stadium was in the centre of something far bigger than we could comprehend, as the display in front of us was between Jeonbuk and Suwon severely lacking match sharpness."

"In the stadium though, there were no mixed zones for two years, and media restrictions meant that we went from being spaced out to then being restricted on members per outlet. Pre- and post-match conferences took place on the field with questions requiring submission beforehand. The press was further away from the players both literally and metaphorically than they had ever been. If there was anything that could be perceived as a novelty, it took only 90 minutes for it to wear off."

The "one silver lining" Matt accepts, is that Zoom created a safe environment to speak to players away from Seoul. Before the pandemic, arranging calls with players was virtually impossible but the "normalization of video chats at the time" meant the players were able to express their feelings to grateful journalists.

Stats and Figures Add to your Report

The general match-day experience from the media box is this; journalists arrive over an hour before kick-off, typically when the teams are announced. Water and snacks are laid out on a giant table and then a representative from the home team distributes the starting lineups. Depending on the team or the competition, these can be nothing more than a sheet of paper with the confirmed teams, to a full media packet with stats, figures, and player profiles. Stats are crucial in telling the wider picture and Mu-yeol believes the K League is drastically upping its game, but improvements are needed.

"The K League has been working hard in recent years to provide a substantial amount of information and data for journalists, for example, the K League Data Portal. However, things could be much improved if they used more intuitive web designs with powerful filtering options without too many fancy graphics. I find it difficult to navigate their websites (both K League Data Portal and the official K League website) and often end up being lost in random pages without getting the information that I was looking for. Using too much graphics also makes it difficult to search in the webpages."

I think the K League app and website are outdated. I think there's too much clicking and it should be much easier to differentiate between the two divisions. However, hitting the return button on the app or the site when searching for basic information about a K League 2 team, invariably leads you to the K League 1 schedule. Likewise, when accessing the app to look at the lineups, the drop-down menu doesn't change even though you're in a different section. These are small complaints but they need to be more user-friendly.

The End

The last word to Matt before I meet my deadline. K League United might be a small outlet, but it has offered Matt and many others the opportunities of a lifetime.

"I also want to represent the K League well as we’ve dedicated nearly a decade of our lives to following and promoting it via KLU at this point and we now have this wonderful opportunity to show people globally why we continue to do so and why they should care about it also."