…It’s like you’re willfully refusing to understand what first/second/third world really means. It has never had anything to do with development.

KoreanSeoul was bringing up a non-issue–people going nuts about the Superbowl has nothing to do with nationalism; its just two U.S. cities competing (in a game that nobody outside N. America watches). Hence, ‘not an international sport/competition’.

Nobody was denying Korea the right to root for their team–the original post had to do with internal dissent amongst residents who are a little fed up with the WC, not the Korean National team specifically.

And of course, if Korea was not in the WC this year, there wouldn’t be any excessive promotion.

Enough, I’m out! Knock yourselves out henceforth!

This isn’t to say that the consequences are all negative. I’m kind of touched by the support that the Korean team sometimes gets from non-Koreans, and I hope its performance does encourage more Asian nations to improve on their game. I also hope it dispels some of the “inferiority complex” and boosts Korean confidence to something less fickle than one that seems to depend on Koreans’ performance in particular games or sports (e.g. short-track speedskating, archery, to name a few others.)

These musings aside, in all level-headed fairness, although I didn’t think there was anything sinister in Greekfreak’s original post, KoreanSeoul never said that the Super Bowl was an international event. He seemed to be saying (if I’m interpreting correctly) that as an example, Americans’ fervour for sporting events (like in American Football) are comparable, or possibly more obsessive, than the Koreans’ for their World Cup soccer. So I don’t know where you were going with the comment, “BTW the Superbowl isn’t an international event, buddy. The World Cup is.” So maybe we should all “learn…how to read a post”.

the funny thing is, you still chose to title this the ‘anti-korea bandwagon’, though the link you cite in support of it isn’t anti-korean…it’s anti-world cup fever–particularly the excessive marketing of it. The anti-korean bandwagon is, in fact, you and the ‘number of other foreigners’ you seem confident of speaking for.
Which is fair enough, frankly. Nationalism is tedious, no matter where you are. And Korea’s brand of nationalism is as odious as that of any other country.
Frankly, as someone who’s spent time in a number of different countries, I too find myself getting, well, sick of the locals. Don’t get me wrong: at the end of the day I, don’t lose sight of the large upside of whatever culture I happen to find myself in. And yes, people are people, one obviously can’t consign an entire people to a small set of stereotypes, blah blah and so on. All these remain articles of faith.
And yet, knowing all this, I continue to experience strong reactions where I’m particularly irked by something that’s just so damned(stereo)typical of the damned culture we find ourselves in: chalk it up to human nature if you like. That’s when I know I need to just take a break, go have a beer and sleep on it; reason’s usually restored by the following day.

Yeesh sorry for the verbiage. A question to all: IS there something particularly annoying about the Korean brand of gungho football fervour? I think there is, actually. (I’m Korean btw, for those of you who may wish to know). What I dislike about Koreans’ enthusiasm for the World Cup, is the fact that it’s not simply loving football, and loving our team, so there you have it…go team! Granted, that’s most of it, which is why for the most part I don’t have any problem with World Cup Fever, Korean-style. (And mercifully there really isn’t any hooliganism that comes with it.)
It’s the part of it that’s motivated by a an ongoing inferiority complex, a continuing need to demonstrate that Korea belongs on all world stages that irritates me. The Brazilians sound truly joyous when demonstrating love for their team, the game, their nation: there’s something shrill, insistent, and somewhat needling about the same expressions coming from Korean fans, however. I won’t bother refining this statement, as I don’t have the time, but you get my drift….discuss if you like