Seol Young-woo (32, FK Crvena Zvezda), who played for Korea's national soccer team at the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup, sparked controversy by announcing a stance of "tough action against malicious comments" immediately after a loss in the final group match.
On the 25th, Seol Young-woo's agency, Sporty Project, wrote on Seol's official social media (SNS) account that it "plans to respond firmly without leniency to illegal acts such as malicious slander, personal attacks, and the spread of false information."
The agency said, "Among some recent comments and messages, cases have been identified that go beyond the bounds of healthy expression of opinion, including profanity, personal attacks, defamation, and the spread of false information."
It added, "Such acts cannot be justified under any circumstances, and they can cause serious harm not only to the player but also to family and those around them."
The agency said, "This also damages spaces for many fans who continue to support and communicate in a healthy way and undermines a culture of healthy communication," adding, "We will work to ensure a healthy culture of communication that respects one another can continue."
The notice was posted around noon that day. It came about an hour after Korea's national soccer team lost 1-0 to South Africa in the third match of Group A in the World Cup group stage.
This sparked debate over whether it was appropriate to hint at legal action immediately after showing poor performance while the World Cup schedule was not even over.
The post drew about 2,700 comments in roughly five hours. Many read, "If you were going to announce you'd file complaints right after showing this kind of performance, you shouldn't have been on the national team," and, "If you had played as fast as you declared you'd sue, we would have won today."