Lee Kang-in reacts with disappointment after a shot during a friendly match between South Korea and Uruguay at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sept. 28. [Yonhap]
Lee Kang-in reacts with disappointment after a shot during a friendly match between South Korea and Uruguay at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sept. 28. [Yonhap]

Lee Kang-in's agency has vowed to take legal action as unfounded online rumors about the footballer spread in connection with reports of internal discord within the South Korean national team.

The Black Label, Lee's agency, issued an official statement Tuesday saying it had confirmed that "false information unrelated to Lee Kang-in is spreading indiscriminately online" and that "the claims currently circulating have nothing to do with Lee Kang-in and are entirely groundless."

The agency said it is collecting evidence on posts and comments that constitute the spread of false information and defamation, and will pursue legal action as necessary. It added that it would do its utmost to protect the player.

The statement came after rumors targeting Lee spread across online communities, SNS and video platforms amid reports of friction within the national team.

The discord allegations surfaced after a friendly against Uzbekistan on Tuesday, when reports emerged that Kim Min-jae, Hwang In-beom and Hwang Hee-chan — all born in 1996 and known collectively as the "96 line" — were considering retiring from international duty together. The reported rift centered on tensions between veteran players, including captain Son Heung-min, and the 96-line players who were expected to serve as a bridge between the senior and younger members of the squad.

Some online users went further, citing clips from training footage to allege that Son was being ostracized, and speculation that Lee had instigated the situation has driven the controversy further out of control.

The rumors appear to have been fueled in part by remarks Lee made after the Uzbekistan match, in which he said he frequently talks with Kim Min-jae and that Hwang In-beom and Hwang Hee-chan often speak with the younger players. "The older players bring up those things a lot before matches and during camp, so we learn a great deal from them," Lee said. "We try to follow their lead." Some interpreted the comments as hinting at factional divisions within the squad.

On Lee's SNS accounts, users have also been dredging up the "table tennis gate" controversy that erupted during the 2024 Asian Cup in Qatar, flooding the pages with hostile comments and arguments.

Some voices have called for caution against treating unverified claims as fact or using them as grounds to attack individual players.


betterj@heraldcorp.com