Eul-Yong Ta
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Eul-Yong Ta (Korean: 을용타 Chinese:乙龍打) is an internet phenomenon used to describe the incident when Korean footballer Lee Eul-Yong slapped Chinese forward Li Yi in the back of his head in a match against China in December 2003, or to describe the slap itself. The incident sparked over 200 parodies in South Korea. Eul-Yong Ta derives its name from Lee Eul-Yong, who was carded for slapping Li Yi in the head, and ta (打), which means strike or blow in Hanja. The term would roughly translate as "Eul-Yong Strike" or "Eul Yong Smash" in English.
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[edit] Background
[edit] Koreaphobia
One of the primary factors that added tension and unusual amount of publicity to the match was due to "Koreaphobia" (공한증), an expectation of China losing against Korea. The Korea Republic national football team went head-to-head against Chinese team 26 times as of 2006. The results of the match were 15 wins and 11 draws. This match, naturally, was a chance for China to end the losing streak against Korea, and also a possible cause for heavy humiliation from losing against their opponent for the very first time for the Koreans.
[edit] Anti-Chinese sentiment in Korea
At the same time in Korea there was a strong anti-Chinese sentiment, because they felt China had distorted geography and history of Goguryeo, which many historians accept as a Korean state.
The Chinese were also known for its frequent rule violations among the Koreans. In 1998, a Chinese player intentionally and severely injured Hwang Sun-Hong, a star forward until his retirement in 2003. This eliminated Hwang's chances of playing in 1998 World Cup in France.[1][2]
[edit] The match
In 2003, the East Asian Cup kicked off, inevitably causing the two rivals to go head to head.
In the match, the Chinese tried very hard to win adding more and more intensity to the game as it neared the end. South Korea was winning by one point after the first half, as Yoo Sang-Chul headed the ball passed by Lee.
In the second half, Chinese forward Li Yi kicked Lee's right shin after Lee completed a pass. Recently recovering from ankle injury, Lee was upset at Li's violent play and slapped Li on the back of his head, when Li Yi started to roll on the ground grabbing his head in apparent exaggeration. For a while the entire Chinese and Korean squad ran toward the scene resulting in brief ruckus and some degree of physical contact but further conflict did not occur, as the referee awarded a yellow card for Li (simulation) and red card for Lee (violence).[1] When the Chinese forward fell to the ground, his face showed signs of anger yet walked out calmly with pride when he received the red card.[3]
[edit] Reaction and influence
When Lee received a red card for violence, many Koreans felt decried this incident as unfair, and called Li Yi's reaction "Hollywood Action," because of his exaggeration.[4] The picture of Li Yi painfully clasping his head in front of Lee casting an angry and unremorseful glance at him, accompanied by a video clip of the incident, rapidly spread out through the Internet.
Korean websites, especially DC Inside famous for high-level digital image editing and digital photography, began to photoshop and produce numerous parodies to ridicule the incident. Initially, the photoshopped works were pictures of Lee holding a hammer or a chainsaw. However, the parodies grew more complex and sophisticated overtime as they were photoshopped onto movie posters, statues, and such. Famous examples of parodies include pictures of Lee holding an electric saw before the fallen Chinese, driving a crane towards Li, and Lee in Goku's costume in his Super Saiyan form. By June 2006, the number of parodies exceeded 200.[5] Less frequently, the Chinese athlete running from behind has also been the subject of photoshopping.
The parody of Eul-Yong Ta is not limited to the incident at the match in 2003. Since the incident, Eul-Yong Ta went on to portray anti-Chinese sentiments and also has reflected other social and political issues of South Korea such as strained relations between Korea and Japan. Eul-Yong Ta became popular once again when South Korean gymnast Yang Tae Young lost to Paul Hamm in 2004 Summer Olympics. New parodies continued to be made even after 2006 World Cup when Korea lost in a controversial match against Switzerland. Along with many other internet parodies, the Eul-Yong Ta was used as a way to express their anger towards Horacio Elizondo, the referee of the match at the time. [6]
The term inspired many new terms such as Eul-Yong Chook and "Zidane-ta" in Korea when Zidane infamously headbutted Marco Materazzi during the final round of the 2006 World Cup.[7] [8][9] This is be similar to the way many major scandals in America would bear names like Nipplegate and Monicagate after the Watergate Scandal.
[edit] Lee's reaction
Lee Eul-Yong has admitted that he has looked at the parodies of Eul-Yong Ta, but "just once." He strongly regrets the incident and has said that he should have controlled his temper as a veteran on the field. To a question asking him whether he was offended, he responded that he was not offended by the parodies, and content "as long as people laughed from the parodies." (그런 건 없다. 사람들이 그걸로 재미있으면 됐다)[10]
[edit] The birth of Eul-Yong Chook
In late 2005, another picture of Lee began to surface on the internet, which showed him in Bucheon FC's uniform performing a mid-air kick during the match against Suwon Samsung Bluewings. Like Eul-Yong Ta, the picture inspired many parodies with a message. For example, parodies would be made in which Lee kicks Junichiro Koizumi to reflect strong anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea. The victims of Eul-Yong Chook also include Apolo Anton Ohno.
