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BAYERN LIFE 6February 2February 2025
Ji-hong and Young-eun stroll through the Jongno clubbing district in Seoul.
strength of FC Bayern. The fans also want to shine a spotlight on women in football, who, according to Kay,” still have too little visibility“. They began as a loose online group of a few like-minded fans and are now an officially registered Bayern fan club with over 70 members.
Since Kay became a football fan around ten years ago, the Korean has regularly had to listen to sarcastic comments. First from her professor at university, then later from colleagues in the office.” Why are you interested in football?“ they say. Or:” Do you even know what offside is?“ Kay is sure that” every female football fan in South Korea has to listen to the same comments.“ But she is not deterred: she sticks to her passion for football – and has not been alone for quite some time. In 2014, she was watching the World Cup on TV – rather casually, to distract herself from the stress of her final exams at university – where Germany were playing Algeria. The very second Thomas Müller waved into the camera with a smile while singing the national anthem, Kay was hooked.” I liked him immediately,“ she says,” and after the World Cup I asked myself which games I needed to watch to see more of Thomas Müller. I‘ ve been an FC Bayern fan ever since.“ In 2019, she and two friends finally founded South Korea‘ s first all-female FC Bayern fan club.” Red Light Korea“ is a kind of safe space where female fans can share their passion for football without having to worry about annoying comments. The name was chosen purposely, as the colour red stands for luck and prosperity in East Asia – and of course also symbolises the
Neon light, pop music and football
On an early summer evening, we meet Kay and her Red Light friends in the fashionable Ikseon neighbourhood in Seoul. While the first market traders begin setting up their food stalls, we stroll through the narrow, neon-lit alleyways of the former working-class neighbourhood. There are probably few places in the world where the past, present and future collide like this. It is a pop culture maelstrom. There are the older gentlemen in stylish dandy suits who frequent the surrounding seniors’ discos and enjoy a couple of drinks. Just a few steps away, girls in school uniforms are taking elaborate selfies with their matcha lattes. And in the middle of it all, hundreds of office workers sit at plastic tables on the street and celebrate the end of their working day with grilled fish, kimchi sides and soju schnapps. Here, student Young-eun relates her story. She became interested in football during the 2018 World Cup in Russia when South Korea knocked Germany out of the tournament in the group stage. Given that the Bundesliga was the only European league being shown on free TV, she was soon watching her first Bayern matches. And then she searched for interviews with the players on YouTube.” I was particularly impressed by the team‘ s mentality,“ says Young-eun.” Bayern are self-confident, but never arrogant after a win. That impressed me.“ Because she wanted to understand her idols like Joshua Kimmich or Manuel Neuer in their native language, she
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