Banner twisting Incheon’s name into insult draws condemnation
Politicians condemned an FC Seoul supporters' banner that used a derogatory hanja play on Incheon’s name during Saturday’s match.
A banner seemingly disparaging Incheon is seen after a match between FC Seoul and Incheon United at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on Sept. 5.
YONHAP
A banner that appeared to insult Incheon through a derogatory play on the city’s name has drawn condemnation from politicians after it was displayed at a K League 1 match between FC Seoul and Incheon United.
The banner combined three plays on words using hanja — the formal Chinese characters once used in written Korean that have widely fallen out of use since the 1990s — each pronounced the same as an intended syllable but carrying an unrelated, insulting meaning.
The first altered the name of Incheon United's former CEO by swapping in the character for "water," an apparent jab at a 2024 incident in which Incheon fans threw water bottles onto the field.
The second did the same to the current CEO's name, substituting the character for "thief."
The third altered the two characters that actually spell "Incheon" — which mean "benevolent" and "stream" — replacing them with different characters, pronounced identically, that mean "lowly person," turning the club's own name into a slur against the city.
The banner was placed in the FC Seoul supporters' section after the two teams played at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on Saturday.
“The banner crossed every line and insulted both the fans and the people of Incheon,” Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae wrote on Facebook on Tuesday. “As mayor of Incheon and owner of Incheon United, I will not tolerate attacks on our city that undermine the spirit of sports.”
Park stressed a stern response to the banner and related behavior.
“Cheering that shows no basic respect cannot be considered true support,” Park said. “I will respond firmly until those responsible are held accountable and proper measures are put in place to prevent this from happening again.”
The Incheon regional bureau of the Democratic Party (DP) also noted that it would not take lightly any act that disparages the region and damages the pride of Incheon residents and Incheon United fans in a statement issued Tuesday.
“We urge FC Seoul and the organizations involved to thoroughly determine what happened, take appropriate action and put measures in place to prevent a recurrence,” the DP's Incheon bureau said.
BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
