South Korea Has Problem at Home

In a part of the world where honor is everything and saving face is more than a fancy phrase, South Korea is showing signs of panic.

Less than four months from now, the nation will be cohost of the largest single-sport event in the world, soccer’s World Cup. Somewhat belatedly, the realization is sinking in that South Korea’s national team is not up to the task.

Its potential failure could cause South Koreans considerable embarrassment. In the 72-year history of the World Cup, no host nation has failed to advance to at least the second round.

Odds are, however, that South Korea will be unable to defeat any of its World Cup opponents--Poland, the United States and Portugal--and will be ousted in the first round.

That scenario appeared much more likely after South Korea finished fourth in the Gold Cup that ended Feb. 2 at the Rose Bowl. It failed to win any of its five games and scored only three goals.

Repercussions were immediate.

* Several South Korean media members demanded that Guus Hiddink, the Dutch veteran who led the Netherlands to fourth place in the France ’98 World Cup, be fired as national coach. Some criticized Hiddink for taking his girlfriend to California for the tournament.

* Chung Mong-Joon, a vice president of FIFA, the world governing body of the sport, and cochairman of the South Korean World Cup Organizing Committee (KOWOC), took the extraordinary step of asking the government to allow national team players to be exempt from the required two years and two months of military service if the team reaches the second round.

* South Korea had scouts watching North Korea play Singapore in a friendly game in Singapore on Thursday. The straw-clutching idea was to possibly strengthen South Korea’s World Cup team by adding promising North Korean players to the squad.

“We have dispatched several technical committee members to Singapore to check and study their players during the match,” Nam Kwang-Woo, deputy secretary general of the Korean soccer federation, said on the federation’s Web site.

North Korea, however, showed little in a 2-1 loss, leaving South Korea still searching for a solution.

Precedent exists for Korea to field a unified team. It did so at the FIFA World Youth Championship in Portugal in 1991 and such a move might receive FIFA’s blessing.

Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, said that while there no longer is a chance of North Korea playing host to any World Cup games, FIFA likely would not object to seeing a joint Korean team participate in the May 31-June 30 World Cup.

“This is up to them,” Blatter said. “We would be faced with a very unusual and nonforeseen situation. I do not know how [FIFA] would react.”

Chung’s proposal to government leaders in Seoul was reported in Japan, the other cohost for the 32-nation tournament. “Reaching the last 16 of the World Cup is more difficult than winning an Olympic gold medal,” the Nikkan Sports daily quoted Chung as saying. “If we succeed, I would like to see military service waived.”

There was no immediate response to the request, which is a somewhat desperate attempt to raise the motivation level of the players, roughly half of whom face the prospect of compulsory service in the armed forces.

Far from being excited about the World Cup, South Korean fans are said to be dreading the prospect of seeing their team humiliated.

“At the moment there is the clear danger that, with the world focusing on Korean football for the first time ever, the country may be on course for the historical humiliation of being the first [host nation] ever to fail to make the second round,” the Korea Times said.

Meanwhile, despite the media criticism, Hiddink’s position appears secure, for the time being.

All that could change as early as Wednesday, when South Korea travels to Montevideo to play a tough and uncompromising Uruguay team intent on making its mark at the World Cup.

Worst of all for South Korea is the fact that Japan, the tournament’s other cohost, appears to have a capable team, one that could reach the second round.

It all adds up to some long faces in Seoul.