Song Jong-guk of the Suwon Samsung Bluewings legends team and OGFC's Fabio compete for the ball during a legends match between OGFC and Suwon Samsung at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on April 19. [Yonhap]
Song Jong-guk of the Suwon Samsung Bluewings legends team and OGFC's Fabio compete for the ball during a legends match between OGFC and Suwon Samsung at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on April 19. [Yonhap]

Former soccer player Song Jong-guk has opened a Korean barbecue restaurant, fellow retired star Ahn Jung-hwan revealed.

The news came during the third episode of "Tikitiki Takataka Talk Talk Show," a TikTok original series released Monday. The episode featured soccer players Kim Nam-il, Kim Young-gwang, Lee Keun-ho and Ku Ja-cheol alongside baseball players Lee Dae-ho, Lee Dae-hyung, Yoon Suk-min and Yoo Hee-kwan.

The episode centered on a "soccer vs. baseball talk bench-clearing" theme, with the two sides trading barbs over which sport reigns supreme in South Korea.

When Ku Ja-cheol boasted about soccer's popularity on Jeju Island, Yoo Hee-kwan fired back with a laugh: "Isn't Jeju all about Go Doo-shim?"

Yoon Suk-min took aim at Kim Nam-il — who once sparked controversy by saying he did not consider baseball a sport — asking pointedly, "Do you think baseball is a sport?" He backed up the jab by touting the baseball team's toughness, forged by taking pitches at 140 to 150 kilometers per hour.

Lee Dae-hyung acknowledged that soccer is physically more demanding than baseball, but said that was precisely why he wanted no part of it. "I have no desire to do something that hard," he said. "If I have children, I'd want them to play baseball."

It was Ahn Jung-hwan, however, who delivered the sharpest commentary on the state of Korean soccer. "Song Jong-guk opened a barbecue restaurant because there are no kids playing soccer these days," Ahn said.

He added a blunt assessment: "When soccer is struggling, there are no young players learning the game either."

Kim Nam-il echoed the concern. "Honestly, I'm really envious of baseball. Crowds are growing and there's a boom happening again — don't we in soccer need to put our heads together and think hard about this?" he said.

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