People say all kinds of things about Son Heung-min’s dad these days. That he looks scary, trains like the military, maybe even emotionally abusive. I’ve seen people online call him a “North Korean soldier” just because of his intense expression and strict training methods.
But honestly, those takes are so surface-level. If you actually knew the story, you’d see it so differently.
He was a professional footballer himself, but had to retire early because of a career-ending injury.
He didn’t have much of an education, so he took on multiple blue-collar jobs, two construction jobs at once, to support his family.
And instead of sending his son through the toxic youth football system in Korea (which he’d experienced firsthand), he trained both of his sons by himself. Because he believed he could do better for his son.
Yes the training was tough. Four hours of juggling when sonny was teenager to master first touch before training any other skills. 500 shots with the left foot, 500 with the right Every single day in 2011 to master his finishing skills (one of the best finishers who outperformed xG)
It’s brutal. But Sonny himself has said that’s what made him the player he is today. It was his dad who discovered the “Son Heung-min zone”—that sweet spot for curling the ball into the net—and trained him to master it.
What people don’t see is the love behind all that.
When he was a baby, his father raised him pn his laps cuddling him all the times telling him how much he loves him. And when sonny grew up after training, his dad would always say “You’re the best footballer in the world.” And he still says "I love you" to sonny which l thought was impossible as korean
(As a Korean myself, I can’t even remember the last time my parents said “I love you.” That’s just not how many of us were raised. For us, love shows up in cut-up fruit, favorite ice cream in the freezer, or a quick FaceTime every day checking on if we had eaten properly 😂 plz say you do understand me or is it asian thing)
But his dad says it. He shows it. Still does.
Look at these pics taken a day ago
So when people say, “He must be traumatized”…Would someone with trauma smile like that with his dad? Would he laugh like a kid, playing football with pure joy during the off-season?
You can just feel it— He loves his dad. His dad loves him. They’re that once-in-a-century father-son duo.
