[Sportschosun Reporter Park A-ram] Jonathan, a broadcaster from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been targeted by abusive comments from some online users after the South Korea national football team failed to advance to the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
South Korea was pushed out of the top eight among third-place teams after the results of the group-stage matches on the 28th, Korea time, and its bid to reach the round of 32 fell through. The national team was left with the disappointment of a group-stage exit for the first time in eight years, since the 2018 tournament.
South Korea's elimination was also tied to the final result in Group K. In a match held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the Democratic Republic of the Congo defeated Uzbekistan 3-1 to finish third in the group, and that result also affected South Korea's ranking.
Afterward, some football fans visited Jonathan's social networking service (SNS) accounts and flooded them with criticism. The comments included remarks unrelated to the match, such as "Were you rooting for Congo?", "Apologize to Korea," "We were eliminated because of you," and "You must be happy that Congo won," along with racist language.
Jonathan, who had nothing to do with the match, became the target of criticism simply because of his country of origin.
There was also a strong backlash against the attacks. Many online users urged people to stop the abusive comments, saying, "Taking out your anger on Jonathan is wrong," "Blaming someone just for their nationality is shameful," "It makes no sense to hold an individual responsible for a football result," and "I hope Jonathan was not hurt by this."
Born in 2000, Jonathan came to Korea with his family as a refugee and has continued his career as a broadcaster. He has often expressed his affection for Korea on various programs, and recently said that he had completed his naturalization test and was waiting for the results.
As criticism poured in against someone unrelated to the match simply because of his nationality, calls have also grown online for people to refrain from excessive attacks and hateful language.
tokkig@sportschosun.com
