How Tottenham Hotspur football star Son Heung-Min has become a source of pride for the South Korean diaspora. That pride is perhaps most palpable in the Korean community of New Malden, UK, also known as “Little Seoul.”
Sitting in his parents’ hair salon, Min-Kyu is buried in his computer game.
“He’s Korea’s best player of all time. Park Ji-Sung was good but Son is at a different level. He works so hard, he scores goals, he always gives 100%.“When I see that Son has done it, it gives me the belief that I can do it too.” Situated just over a 20-minute train ride from London’s Waterloo station, the leafy suburb of New Malden is home to the largest Korean community in the UK. “I came here because it was easy to acclimatize,” Jaesung, who represents the Liberal Democrats, said with a smile. “You could talk in Korean, read in Korean, eat Korean food, and that appealed to me.
Just off the high street is one of So-Yun’s favorite restaurants, You Me, named after You Mie, the owner’s daughter. You Mie, a Korean football journalist and a part-time waitress at her parents' restaurant in New Malden, has spent the past couple of years writing extensively about Son's success. Her phone does not stop ringing with people begging her for tickets."I don't know how they got my number, but I think my mum has been throwing it around and telling everyone I know Son," she says with a laugh.You Mie whose parents came to Britain in the 1980s, grew up in New Malden.
"People want their kids to follow in his footsteps and fans want to watch him. You see more and more Korean fans going on the Underground and buses to Tottenham games. You see them waving Korean flags on television. Having grown up in London, it does feel a bit strange but I think it's a great thing for Korea."
Fortunately, for Son, he secured the much-needed gold medal, leading South Korea to a 2-1 victory over Japan and ending speculation over whether he would halt his career to serve in the military.“I think that everyone wanted him not to go so he could prolong his career but I know there were some people who said he shouldn’t be given an exemption.
Others such as Seol Ki-Hyun, Lee Young-Pyo and Kim Bo-Kyung, all of whom played in the Premier League and dined at You Me, failed to have quite the same impact as Park. “I know a few people who have flown over from Korea, stayed for a day to watch Son and then flown home again. It’s not unusual. "When I supported United it was about Park but now everyone is for Tottenham because of Son," he said."If Son moved from Tottenham and then went to play for Chelsea, would I follow him? Yes, I probably would.”
Hyoon-Gyun Oh, chairman of the UK’s Korea Sports Council, right, pins a symbol of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee onto Byeong Park’s lapel.
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