Korean Soccer Fever Blooms in Germany

Frankfurt is where Team Korea will have its first match with Togo on June 13. On the eve of the match-up, Koreans living in Germany will have a celebration in an assembly hall. The game will be shown live on a large screen at Agora Plaza by a Korean religious group. Thousands of Korean residents, as well as Red Devils, Korean football supporters who earned global fame for their ardent cheers and red T-shirts, will be there to reenact their street cheers in 2002.

The Red Tigers, the football supporters group for Koreans in Germany, will hold a street cheer event on the bank of the Mine River, an officially designated place for street cheers.

A wide screen 30m by 10m has been installed on the river so people can watch it on both sides of the river. On June 9, Frankfurt citizens gathered here and watched the first match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup between Germany and Costa Rica.

At a high-end department store in downtown Frankfurt, a large taegukgi, Korea’s national flag, hung in the show window. Inside are Sung Sang Hee`s Children Artistic Corps for Koreans Folk Music, twined with taegukgi, playing traditional Korean music.

Some 150 square meters of space on the third floor is devoted to Korea. Some Koreans are demonstrating how to make red chili paste with chili powder, starch and soybean malt. Others are making rice cakes with a large maul. Citizens are sampling bibimbap, rice mixed with vegetables, mushroom, sesame oil and red chili paste.

At Agora Plaza in central Frankfurt, a photo exhibition showing hundreds of pictures of Seoul provided by Dong-A Ilbo will be held.

Jae-Yun Jung jaeyuna@donga.com