Son Heung-min and four other South Korean players said on Thursday (Nov 12) they had put their differences aside after reports of bitter internal divisions at the heart of the national team.
South Korean football has been mired in controversy since their hugely disappointing exit in the group stage of the World Cup, after which unpopular coach Hong Myung-bo quit.
In the fallout, reports emerged in local media of a split involving the 34-year-old skipper Son and some of the other players, including Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae.
Son and Kim, together with Lee Jae-sung, Hwang In-beom and Hwang Hee-chan, issued a joint statement to fans apologising and saying it was time to move on after they held talks.
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“First of all we would like to sincerely apologise to the Korean public and football fans for the concern caused by recent reports concerning the national team,” the statement said.
“At our recent meeting we gathered to share our thoughts on the national team openly and honestly.
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“By listening directly to one another and discussing matters we had not had sufficient opportunities to address, we were able to gain a better understanding of each other’s positions.”
During their talks they said they looked at what went wrong at the World Cup, admitting they were still hurting from the experience.
“Our discussions began with the question of what needs to change to ensure that we do not repeat the same mistakes,” they said in the statement.
They added: “We now intend to put unnecessary controversy behind us and focus on building a stronger national team together.”
Spanish coach Robert Moreno took over from Hong on an interim basis, with his contract reportedly set to expire this month.
South Korea play Saudi Arabia in Qatar on Friday before another friendly, against Qatar, four days later.
The matches were originally designed as build-up to the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia but the tournament was last week postponed to December next year.
Son and Hwang meet in Doha
The joint statement came after Son and Hwang Hee-chan, two central figures of the reported rift, talked one-on-one for about three minutes as the team opened camp in Doha.
The pair walked side by side around the edge of the pitch at Qatar University during the team’s first training session on Tuesday, ahead of two away friendlies. Hwang, a forward for Schalke 04, did most of the talking, while Son, who plays for LAFC, listened with a faint smile. What they discussed was not disclosed.
Both Son and Hwang had joined the squad late, so they only took part in the recovery session, training in sneakers instead of football boots.
Hwang recently faced public backlash after he was caught on camera appearing to snub Son while coming on as a substitute in a friendly last month.
Defender Kim Min-jae and midfielder Hwang In-beom, who are also allegedly part of the rift, were not seen speaking separately with their captain.
The camp reunited Son, born in 1992, with Hwang Hee-chan, Kim and Hwang In-beom, all born in 1996, for the first time in just over a month.
After Korea’s friendly against Uzbekistan on Oct. 6 — the last match of the September and October international window — the 1996-born trio reportedly expressed frustration with Son and demanded changes in his leadership. The three also allegedly told a few teammates that they might quit the national team.
A lawmaker later claimed at a parliamentary audit on government bodies that some national team players referred to Son as “No. 7,” his squad number, rather than by name. The claim brought the rumored generational conflict — which had apparently run through the team for eight years — into the spotlight.
Interim manager Robert Moreno named all four players in his November squad, then flew to Europe to meet Kim and Hwang In-beom.
Midfielder Lee Jae-sung of Mainz, a close friend of Son’s who was also born in 1992, appears to have stepped in as a peacemaker. After Mainz’s Bundesliga match against Bayern on Saturday, Lee swapped shirts with Kim and wrote on his personal blog, “I’m always proud that you’re at a world-class club.”
Son, for his part, urged his teammates to pull together at a team meeting, Jeong Woo-yeong of Union Berlin and Eom Ji-sung of Swansea City told reporters in Doha on Tuesday.
“I hope that we can all have fun, laugh together and [play] with good energy,” Son told the players, according to Jeong and Eom. “Let’s come together as one.”
On Moreno’s instructions, the players also held a separate, players-only meeting after the first training session, sources told the JoongAng Ilbo. Football insiders watched to see whether it would turn into a candid, face-to-face airing of grievances, but the meeting was reportedly short and the conversation somewhat perfunctory.
Those at the center of the conflict are going about their work without visible unease, according to another source familiar with the team’s inner workings. The overhauled roster, with 10 players from last month’s squad dropped and six newcomers added, also appears to have helped keep the mood calm.
Korea faces Saudi Arabia at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, or 11:30 p.m. in Korea, and then Qatar at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium at 5 p.m. next Tuesday, or 11 p.m. in Korea.
The postponement of the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 from January 2027 to December of that year has eased some of the urgency surrounding the current trip. Still, the team can ill afford to take it easy.
For Moreno, whose interim contract expires at the end of the month, mending the rift in the squad appears to be his most pressing task if he wants to secure an extension.
