Remarks mocking Son Heung-min over military service stir controversy; JTBC says voices not its reporters'

Inappropriate remarks caught on camera at a South Korea national football team training session ahead of the 2026 North America World Cup are stirring controversy.

A video filmed at the training session spread rapidly across social media Tuesday.

The footage, posted to JTBC's YouTube channel, showed players warming up with a run at the Chivas Valle Verde training ground in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, on June 7.

The problem was the voices of individuals heard in the background.

A man believed to be among the media present made remarks directed at Son Heung-min, saying he was "running like a platoon leader" and asking whether he ran "like he's in the military" because he was the captain.

Another man then said, "These guys who never even went to the military, s—" and "These so-and-sos who don't know the first thing about the military" — to which the first man laughed and replied, "He did a little."

Also audible in the recording was a woman at the scene warning the men to stop, noting that the camera was on and their voices could be picked up.

After the video spread online, JTBC made the original clip private, reposted an edited version with the remarks muted, and said the individuals heard were not its reporters.

"The muted portions of the video are not the voices of JTBC reporters — they are ambient sound from unidentified individuals at the scene," the broadcaster said.

JTBC also said it had been focused on covering Son's training and did not notice the remarks at the time, adding that it became aware of the problem through comments posted afterward. "We judged it to be language that anyone would find offensive and immediately muted it," the broadcaster said.

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