An unbelievable mistake at the South Korean national team’s training session caused a private conversation about Son Heung-min to be broadcast live.
According to KNTFootball, the incident took place during an open training session of the South Korean national team in preparation for the 2026 World Cup. As cameras were recording images of captain Son Heung-min performing high-intensity fitness exercises, two JTBC reporters present at the scene accidentally left their microphones active.
Believing their conversation was not being recorded, one person made a sarcastic comment about the star currently playing for Los Angeles FC. This reporter said: “Why is he running like he’s commanding an entire army platoon? Does he think he’s in the military?”
However, the response from the colleague was even more controversial. This person replied: “He hasn’t even completed his military service. These guys know nothing about the military.”
What is worth mentioning is that the entire dialogue was recorded and broadcast live nationwide. Just minutes later, the video quickly spread across social media platforms, attracting thousands of comments from fans.
Many fans argued that this was a serious professional error by the broadcasting crew, while also criticizing the unprofessional remarks aimed at Son. Some other opinions clarified that the 33-year-old forward was actually exempted from military service after winning the gold medal at the 2018 ASIAD. He personally still completed the basic military training course as required.
Meanwhile, JTBC immediately explained that due to using ambient microphones during the national team’s open training session, various background noises and voices from people present at the stadium were accidentally recorded.
The broadcasting station affirmed that the controversial statement was inappropriate and quickly muted the audio clip immediately upon discovery. According to JTBC, the person who made those comments was not part of their reporting team, but another individual present at the scene.
