Relations between Japan and Korea have had a difficult week. On August 10, Lee Myung Bak visited the disputed territory of Dokdo (known in Japanese as Takeshima), causing such outrage in Japan that it resulted in the Japanese ambassador to South Korea being recalled to Tokyo. Then, on the very same day, the Olympic match to decide which nation would take the bronze medal for soccer resulted in a 2-0 defeat for Japan, as South Korea emerged victorious.
While South Korean netizens were ecstatic at gaining a bronze medal, Japanese netizens were lamenting their defeat. Interestingly, the historical tension that characterises the Dokdo/Takeshima debate between the two nations comes to the fore, even in the comments about South Korea’s victory. koreaBANG brings you both South Korean and Japanese netizen reactions to this much-talked about match.
Comments from Nate:
김세현:
We ask them to play football, and they’ve made such a drama .
홍혁준:
Ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke It feels SO good! Let’s laugh together Ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke
장두순:
Park_Chuyoung_horsing_around_4monkeys.avi
김현아:
Park Chu-young! Don’t even think about enlisting the army! You’re not going anywhere!
오한솔:
Japanese goal keeper came out from the net ke ke ke ke ke That pink-boy ke ke ke
권오현:
I’ve got to talk the talk. The Japanese football team has done well during the Olympics only because of their easy matches. Lucky Japanese monkeys
ke ke ke ke ke ke ke
김상형:
Congratulations, Kim Ki-hee! You didn’t have enough playing time though, I’m sure your sweat and effort must be the same as the rest of the team.
김현정:
Yay!!! We’ve got the first Olympic bronze for football and the whole team is getting military service exemption for victory over Japan!! Kim Sung-yueng’s salary is going up for sure!!
조성민:
Kim Ki-hee finished the military service in 5 minutes.[meaning he gets military service exemption even though he only played for 5 minutes.]
김대근:
It’s good that they scored 2 goals, yet it feels even better that they didn’t allow the Japanese a score at all.
김규리:
Until that day when Mt. Baekdu‘s worn away and the East Sea ‘s waters run dry,God protect and preserve our country. Roses of Sharon and Three thousand Li full of splendid mountains and rivers; Great Koreans, To the Great Korean way, stay always true! [the National anthem of South Korea, Wikipedia translated]
이재민:
Ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke All those British gamblers are so going to meet at the River Thames ke ke ke ke They have been wrong for basically everything ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke
최지용:
In the face of Gwangbokjeol (the Independence Day of Korea), say ‘Long live, Korea’ for three times. I’m fucking proud of this nation.
김우현:
I haven’t seen such a euphoric face of Hong Myung-bo before Park Chu-young made the first goal. He must have had emotional entanglement of issues around Park Chu-young. Team Korea, fly even higher with help of military service exemption!
박희석:
It was hilarious when that hot-pink monkey came out ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke. And Park Chu-young and
Koo Ja-cheol ’s goals aiming for military service exemption were phenomenal ke ke ke ke ke ke ke Well done! Congratulations!
이요셉:
The Japanese said they’re going to win the gold medal, but they must be suicidal right now ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke
최승은:
Who said Japan is going to win? They must feel so embarrassed for their stupid guesses ke ke Team Korea did so well!
윤성희:
Hurray for Koo Ja-cheol’s goal ke ke ke Say ‘Long live, Korea’ three times for the goals against the team Japan ke ke ke ke I admire them!
안충렬:
Hey monkeys, time to go home. Pack your bags ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke
백승열:
Hurray for Kim Ki-hee!
South Korea’s Jacheol Koo shoots the ball to score his side’s second goal as Japan’s Daisuke Suzuki tries to block
And how did the Japanese take this? See the reaction of Japanese netizens to their defeat by South Korea below.
Comments from 2ch:
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
Oh well.I guess if we don’t admit defeat there’s no future for us. I wonder if the Japanese Olympic team was a strong one…
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
Ejaculate hard!
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
I fell asleep in the middle of the match. I mean, what were those unmotivated expressions on the Japanese team’s faces? I wonder if they were just holding back at the fucking Koreans? I felt like they didn’t even want to win.
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
Japan isn’t weak. Korea is strong. And will be for a looooooooong time to come. It’s just embarrassing now, so let’s give up on that whole ‘Japan sea’ thing.
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん:
But Korea is taking that team to the big meet in Brazil.
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
[In Korean] Dokdo is our land!!
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
Well, in Japan and America, soccer is a sport for fucking girls. LOL.
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん:
[Referring to an article posted at the beginning of the thread] Is this supposed to be a news article? It’s pretty low-level
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
Don’t bother coming back, scum that lost to the fucking Koreans.
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
The nobodies who lose with their A-team should stop going on about it.
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
It was a pity, but we’re on a losing streak. First, we have to start with that.
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
Even though we were losing why were they passing behind?
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
It was a miracle we got this far, a medal wasn’t even expected; it’s just that we beat Spain and then the whole country suddenly started getting excited because it was a team made up of third-rate athletes.
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん:
The second goal was because Japan was too aggressive, but the first goal was because they cleanly raced past the three defenders, who’d gone back as far as they could.
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん:
The Japanese Olympic soccer team didn’t understand what they did in the Korean match. They didn’t understand the fact that that shitty game was an insult to Spain/Morrocco/Honduras. I’m embarrassed to be Japanese. Don’t ever come home you shitty bastards!
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん:
The low level of the ethnicity of the Japanese people, who think that the chance wins up to now were actual skill, is the real reason we lost. The Japanese, who expected too much from a B-level team, will have their stupidity exposed. Both the media and the Japanese people can’t keep on dreaming
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん:
The only thing that won’t change for a loooooooong time is you bastards’ 9cm…
隣の家のわんこ ◆oJlmXYegxg:
They managed to go as far as the final four on the momentum of beating Spain, but they lost that momentum from a single miss.
（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん:
Take back all the Koreans resident in Japan. Please. I understand that even Koreans don’t trust Koreans resident in Japan, but I guess that at this historical victory the unifying forces will have grown stronger.
