[Lee Su-jin's SNS]
[Lee Su-jin's SNS]

Lee Su-jin, wife of former soccer player Lee Dong-guk, has apologized after drawing criticism for allowing her children to make noise in their apartment building during a late-night World Cup match.

Lee posted on Instagram on Friday, saying she takes full responsibility as a parent for her child's behavior during a recent early-morning World Cup match, when the child jumped around in excitement after Lionel Messi scored a goal. "It is not something to brush off as a child's behavior — I believe it is my responsibility as a parent," she wrote.

She added that she was "sincerely sorry for not being considerate enough of those around us at such a late hour" and pledged to be more attentive going forward to ensure the same thing does not happen again.

Lee also expressed gratitude to her supporters, saying she draws great strength from those who look upon her warmly and cheer her on. "I will not lose my humble heart, and I will continue to learn and work harder to raise my children to be upright and healthy," she added.

Earlier, Lee had posted a video on Instagram on Wednesday showing her family watching the round-of-16 match between Argentina and Egypt at the 2026 North America World Cup. The video showed Lee Dong-guk and the couple's children cheering in the living room as they watched the game.

When Argentina scored, the children erupted in celebration — leaping over the sofa and running around the house. After a subsequent goal, they jumped in place and punched a boxing bag.

Lee Su-jin can be heard in the video telling the children to stop stomping. However, criticism emerged after it became known that the video was filmed at around 3 a.m., with viewers saying the family had failed to consider their neighbors in the shared residential building.

Lee later set the video to private.

Meanwhile, Lee Dong-guk married Lee Su-jin, a former Miss Korea, in 2005. The couple have five children — four daughters and one son.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com