Eul-Yong Ta (Lee in red jersey), with Li Yi (#11) on ground and Yang Chen (#22) in the background

Eul-Yong Ta (Hangul: 을용타; Hanja: 乙容打) is a South Korean internet phenomenon used to describe the incident when South Korean footballer Lee Eul-Yong slapped Chinese forward Li Yi in the back of his head in a match against China in December 2003, or to describe the slap itself. The incident led to over 200 parodies in South Korea.

Eul-Yong Ta derives its name from Lee Eul-Yong, who was carded for slapping Li Yi in the head, and ta (打), which means strike or blow in Hanja. The term would roughly translate as "Eul-Yong Strike" or "Eul Yong Smash" in English.

Background [edit]

Koreaphobia [edit]

"Koreaphobia" (공한증) has been coined by Chinese journalists to describe expectation of China losing against Korea. The Korea Republic national football team went head-to-head against the Chinese team 26 times as of 2006. The results of the match were 15 wins and 11 draws.

Anti-Chinese sentiment in Korea [edit]

The Korean media has said that the popularity of Eul-Yong Ta is a result of anger over Chinese-Korean geographical disputes.^[1][2] Prior to the time of the match, South Korea had been involved in geographical disputes with China regarding Goguryeo, Jiandao, and Northeast Project of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In 1998, a Chinese goalkeeper injured Hwang Sun-Hong, the main forward for the national team until his retirement in 2003. This prevented Hwang from playing in the 1998 World Cup in France.^[3][4]

The match [edit]

The two countries faced each other during the East Asian Cup 2003. During the match, South Korea was winning by one point after the first half, as Yoo Sang-Chul headed the ball passed by Lee.

In the second half of the game, Chinese forward Li Yi kicked Lee's right shin after Lee completed a pass. Recently recovering from ankle injury, Lee was upset at Li's violent play and slapped Li on the back of his head, when Li Yi started to roll on the ground grabbing his head.^[1] For a while the entire Chinese and Korean squad ran toward the scene resulting in brief ruckus and some degree of physical contact but further conflict did not occur, as the referee awarded a yellow card for Li (simulation) and red card for Lee (violence).^[5]