A South Korean lawmaker has publicly pressed the Korea Football Association over reports that national team players have stopped calling captain Son Heung-min by his name, instead referring to him as "No 7" or "that person." During a parliamentary committee meeting on 21 October, politician Jeong Yeon-wook asked acting KFA president Lee Yong-soo: "It is said that recently, within the national team squad, players have been calling him not by his name but as 'No 7' or 'that person'. Do you know who that is?" Lee replied, "Are you referring to Son Heung-min?" Jeong then said, "So it appears to be true. ... It has also been revealed that the national team's leadership is causing discord and has broken down overall." Lee declined to comment further.
The exchange comes less than 18 months after Son lifted the Europa League trophy as Tottenham Hotspur captain, his final act for the club before a move to Los Angeles FC that he said was made partly to prepare for the 2026 World Cup. That tournament ended in a group-stage exit and a media boycott after unnamed reporters mocked Son's lack of military service. He started on the bench for South Korea's final game, a defeat to South Africa. Since then, coach Hong Myung-bo and KFA president Chung Mong-gyu have both stepped down, were questioned by parliamentarians, and police raided KFA offices.
Generational tension
Divisions between older and younger players are reportedly unusually serious within the squad. At the 2024 Asian Cup, Son and a group of younger players including Lee Kang-in clashed during a table tennis game, which left Son with a dislocated finger, though the two were said to have quickly made up. According to multiple reports, senior players from the so-called class of 1996 - Kim Min-jae, Hwang In-beom and Hwang Hee-chan - have been unhappy with the team's leadership and wanted a new captain and new head coach following the World Cup.
Speaking after a 0-0 draw with Venezuela on 2 October, Hwang In-beom said: "I'm tired physically and mentally. It's been about nine years since I joined the national team, and from then until now, there are many things that need to change, in football and in many other areas, but it doesn't seem to be happening." Around the same time, Kim Min-jae said: "Everyone needs to fight and compete together, but we didn't do that. Look at our defenders; I felt sorry for them."
There were also reports, not denied by the KFA, that Kim, Hwang In-beom and Hwang Hee-chan were ready to quit the national team at the end of the last international window before a KFA official persuaded them to stay.
Interim coach, Asian Cup ahead
Robert Moreno took over as interim coach in September, serving through the end of November, while the KFA currently has no president. A day before the parliamentary exchange, Moreno named Son as captain in his squad for friendlies against Saudi Arabia and Qatar despite the rift reports, also selecting Kim Min-jae, Hwang Hee-chan and Hwang In-beom.
South Korea have not won the Asian Cup since 1960, and the tournament is scheduled to begin on 7 January, though there is a chance it could be delayed to 2028 because of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. Son, now 34, scored a free-kick against Uzbekistan on 6 October for his 59th international goal, the most by any South Korean. There has long been debate over whether his best position is out wide or through the middle, but it is no longer unthinkable that the discussion could shift toward whether he should start at all.
