June 2006: World Cup

In the weeks before, running up to the first game, the city was buzzing. Everywhere you looked there was marketing, decorations, hype and the t-shirts were flying off the shelves. Everyone had a red accent to whatever they were wearing or doing. School kids would put on hats and bandanas as soon as the last bell rang. After work, people would hit the bars in red miniskirts and jumpers. Even the drunk-red faces on the first subway in the morning took on a special glow of national pride. "Reds Go Together!" was the slogan for the 2006 line of official sponsored clothing for the Korean Red Devils, color-coded accordingly. Those were heady weeks, full of speculation and excitement. Every bar and restaurant had purchased a few more TVs for the occasion. Before the games started, restauranteurs and drinkers whiled away the time watching evening television dramas. The free newspapers passed out next to the subway had statistics, interviews, product endorsements and huge color photos of Korea's World Cup soccer team.

No one was really focussed on much of anything besides. The round-robin pairings were cut out and posted in every workplace. Waitstaff was killing the pre-dinner rush cutting and sewing their tees with 'V' necks and slits up the side to make them sexier. The street vendors had scarves, hats, shirts, boxer shorts, headbands with horns, keychains, temporary tatoos and everything else a sports logo could come on. New cell phones that could recieve television signals were flying off the shelves. Bets with coworkers and relatives were made on the scores, scorers, the time and temperature... By the time the day actually arrived, the anticipation could have been served up like a slice of pie.

The first game was held on June 13th, a Monday night. The game started at 10, but crowds were building long before around City Hall and in the stadiums to watch on huge TVs. The afternoon commute was crammed with people all suited up to cheer. In the streets around downtown Seoul, about four to five hundred thousand people came out, waving flags, faces painted and shouting, "Dae-Han-Min-Kuk!"





People gathered in the two huge stadiums in Seoul: The Olympic Stadium and the World Cup Stadium. On TV, these crowd were cut in with live coverage of the first game to show a more "Korean" audience. To even get in the gates, you had to show up hours in advance.

All the universities had huge pep rallies before the games. People filled the bars and restaurants around the campuses, cheering, thumping inflatable tubes together, sporting their team colors and replacing the usual busy traffic noise with a far more human roar. During the game there were hardly any people out on the streets. Everyone was in front of the television. Walking down to meet some friends, I passed a group of students who were sitting around someone's car drinking and listening to the pre-game banter blasting out from all four open doors. The country was transfixed for 80 minutes. Korea won, versus Togo, and the streets exploded.







Within seconds of the game finishing, people were out making noise, dancing, going bananas. People were driving through the city honking and shouting. People were shouting back. The entire country was elated and wanted to share it. Groups of people were walking lockstep, chanting and waving flags, scarves, anything at hand. Girls in skirts and devil horns, guys in sport shorts and red bandanas. Office workers with painted faces, teens leaping through the streets, children decked out head-to-toe, people in cars, people on scooters, people laughing and hugging.





After the game it was simply impossible to get anywhere. The subway was packed. The taxis were all taken. The buses, crammed. Regardless, people were out, long into the night. Bars, restaurants and cafes had, possibly, the busiest night in the last 4 years. More than a few people were going to show up late for work the next day.



I took the last subway home, but missed the transfer. I waited for an hour at Dongdaemun Stadium station for a taxi, just watching people going by. Every cab was taken, the buses were finished. Slowly, the other people waiting around the subway exit got picked up or started walking. Eventually, I started walking too. Forty-five minutes later, I found a cab. Home by 5am.