AI video of player 'punching' coach Hong goes viral with 10 million views as calls grow to remove his 2002 World Cup clip

An AI-generated video depicting national team midfielder Jens Castrop striking former coach Hong Myung-bo on the back of the head. [FM Korea]

Public anger at former South Korea national team coach Hong Myung-bo shows no sign of abating, even after he resigned following the team's early exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America — the worst result in the country's World Cup history. An AI-generated video depicting midfielder Jens Castrop assaulting Hong has spread widely online, and calls have emerged to remove Hong's celebration footage from the national anthem video played before international matches.

A video titled "A consolation clip made out of anger at Hong Myung-bo," posted Wednesday on FM Korea and other online communities, had accumulated nearly 10 million views and more than 10,000 comments, making it one of the most discussed pieces of content in Korean football circles.

The clip, created using AI technology, shows national team midfielder Jens Castrop approaching Hong on the bench, raising his voice at the coach and then striking him on the back of the head.

The person who posted the video, identified only as A, described it as "AI-generated content," writing that Castrop had "finally snapped and couldn't take it anymore, yelling 'Why did you even call me up?' before smacking Hong Myung-bo on the back of the head."

A added that "the live chat was flooded with rage over Hong Myung-bo" and that "public sentiment is being reflected in real time — people's anger has not cooled, line by line, through the former coach's apology press conference."

Castrop earned his first call-up to the national team in September last year and made the final squad for the 2026 World Cup, drawing considerable expectations. During the tournament, however, he started only three of the team's nine A-match appearances and was not given any playing time in the group-stage matches against the Czech Republic and Mexico.

Castrop made his World Cup debut as a second-half substitute in the final group-stage match against South Africa, but South Korea lost 1-0 and was eliminated.

As criticism of Hong continued to spread online, some fans called for the removal of footage showing him celebrating South Korea's quarterfinal penalty shootout victory at the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup — a clip long included in the national anthem video shown before international matches.

A South Korean football fan identified as B wrote on social media: "Please remove this clip from the national anthem video. I think this is why Hong Myung-bo acts like he's above everyone else — he seems to think of himself as Yi Sun-sin," referring to the revered Joseon-era admiral, in a pointed criticism of the former coach's perceived arrogance.

yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com