One year has passed since caster Song Jae-ik passed away.
March 18, 2026, is the first anniversary of the death of the late Song Jae-ik. The late man passed away at his home on March 18, 2025. He was 82.
According to his family, Song Jae-ik was diagnosed with cancer in April 2024 and had been battling the disease. Although Song Jae-ik fought the illness for nearly a year, he ultimately did not recover.
Song Jae-ik, who began sports broadcasting with boxing in 1970, is a legendary figure who held the World Cup broadcast microphone for six consecutive tournaments from the 1986 Mexico World Cup to the 2006 Germany World Cup. It is reported that during the 1998 France World Cup, he boosted viewership to as high as 57%.
In particular, during the 1998 France World Cup Asian final qualifying match against Japan, known as the "Tokyo triumph," when Lee Min-sung scored a thrilling comeback winning goal, Song Jae-ik left behind the memorable line "Mount Fuji is collapsing." That line is still talked about today.
Song Jae-ik, whose activity had been sparse since the late 2000s, returned to the K League 2 professional soccer broadcast site in 2019 but completely stepped away from the soccer scene from 2020.
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