In Koreatown, throwing a World Cup watch party involves holding auditions just for the cheers.
This year, organizers recruited a cheer squad that spent weeks learning chants and rehearsing dance routines before taking the stage at watch parties for South Korea’s World Cup group stage matches.
The squad’s biggest test came Thursday, when more than 10,000 fans packed Seoul International Park for the highly anticipated Mexico vs. South Korea match. Mexico won 1-0.
The cheer squad is just one piece of what is a surprisingly elaborate operation.
There are K-pop dance covers, taekwondo demonstrations, photo booths, food trucks and enough performers cycling through the lineup that the events can sometimes feel closer to an official FIFA fan festival than a community-run soccer watch party.
Why not simply set up a giant screen and call it a day? Organizers say they’re trying to recreate something many Korean immigrants remember from home.
Before each match, fans practice chants alongside a crew of pros. They include squad leader Won-hyeon Choi, who leads the the five-person dance team Alred — formed specifically for this year’s watch parties — and the Hwarang Youth Foundation drum squad.
Together, they lead the crowd through chants including “Dae-Han-Min-Guk” — the Korean name for South Korea, followed by five synchronized claps — and “Oh! Pilseung Korea,” one of the national team’s most recognizable rallying cries.
Cheering together as one voice
In the days leading up to the World Cup, Choi and others even hosted a 20-minute YouTube livestream to teach fans the chants and routines they planned to use at the watch parties.
The scene brought back memories for Bobby Lee.
Lee watched World Cup matches at Seoul Plaza in 2010 alongside thousands of supporters while living in South Korea. The crowd at Liberty Park was smaller than the ones he remembers from Seoul, he said, but he felt right at home.
“It’s amazing how they created a similar vibe and experience to what I’ve seen in Korea,” Lee said. “I don’t think any of the other watch parties have cheerleaders or all the Korean songs playing during the game.”
For many Korean immigrants like Lee, the benchmark remains the 2002 World Cup, when the South Korean team became the first Asian men’s national team to reach the semifinals. Millions poured into the streets and helped turn the country’s coordinated cheering culture into a global spectacle.
Those memories helped inspire many of the efforts now taking place in LA.
“What makes Korean football cheering culture truly special is the combination of unified chants and extraordinary enthusiasm,” Choi said. “Thousands of people move, sing and cheer together as one voice.”
Recalling the 2002 World Cup, Choi added, “Even in the small rural town where I lived, it felt as if the entire nation was shaking with excitement and the skies were echoing with the cheers of the people.”
Dennis Hwang, 26, had never cheered before, but as a dancer, he was intrigued by the opportunity. The experience also gave the second-generation Korean American a chance to connect more deeply with his Korean heritage.
“I didn’t know a lot of the songs that we’ve done that was old generation, but I found out while doing the practices and everything and I was getting a taste of what the old generation songs were like compared to now,” he said.
Participating in the squad helped Jenny Hwang, 25, connect more deeply with Korean culture, even though she was born in the US.
Many of the songs used during their routines “resonate across generations,” she said.
The squad’s playlist consists of newer hits like Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” with older crowd favorites including Shin Hae-chul’s “To You” and Yoo Jung-seok’s “Highway in the Gale,” — songs that generations of Korean fans have grown up with and that have become fixtures at sporting events across the country.
“It’s actually my first time trying anything related to dancing and performing in front of people but it was actually really fun although the practices were a lot and tiring,” she said.
Many immigrants who experienced the 2002 World Cup firsthand still carry those memories, Choi continued.
“Through this event, we hope to help them relive that spirit,” he said.
He also hopes younger generations and people outside the Korean community are introduced to the passion and communal spirit that Koreans bring to events like the World Cup.
The cheer squad will return June 24 for a watch party at Liberty Park as South Korea faces South Africa in its final Group A match. Kickoff is at 6 p.m., with festivities beginning at 2 p.m.
