In this modern era, sport has developed to an almost iconic status which represents cultural phenomena of humans, and, football, especially, has rapidly developed to be the leader in modern sport. In the process of the development of football, an ideo...
In this modern era, sport has developed to an almost iconic status which represents cultural phenomena of humans, and, football, especially, has rapidly developed to be the leader in modern sport. In the process of the development of football, an ideology, that represents socio-cultural characteristics of the each era, is reflected and, looking at this ideology, reflected by football from the perspective of humanities, has significant importance for the understanding of the historical flow of events, and, furthermore, has a view of the direction of its future development. Korean football, with its near 130 years of the history, is now facing a new Renaissance following the almost mythological semi-final at the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, entry into the 16 rounds of the 2010 South African World Cup for the first time in an away match, and gaining a medal, for the first time, at the 2012 Olympic Games, in London. This study aims to investigate the process of the development of football, which is now standing out as one of the cultural phenomena in the field of Korean sport, and analysing the period ideology revealed in its history. The results are as follows.
Firstly, at the introduction stage of football, there was no significant existing ideology which can explain the developmental process. However, the ideology that influenced, not only football, but also the introduction and development of a sports culture at the time of the Joseon Dynasty, was the theory of social evolution which was formed and which revolved around cultural imperialism, Christian evangelism, and elitism.
Secondly, during the period of the Japanese colonial era, which was also a period of expansion of football, football developed under the influence of Nationalism based on social evolutionary awareness. The theory of social evolution gave birth to a nationalistic ideology for the restoration of national rights at the national trials during the colonial period. Therefore football of the time was a means of inspiring the national spirit through sports activities and strengthening the will for Korea's independence, and nationalism was its ideological basis.
Thirdly, the ideology that appeared during the settling period, after Korea's independence, was Protective Nationalism which was to overcome the defeatist consciousness. During the Japanese colonial period, football was a means of expressing our resistance and exclusive nationalism in order to overcome our resentment and sorrow during the colonial rule, and, after independence and the Korean War, football became a means of inspiring Korean national pride. In other words, football of this time was a means of developing a driving force for the reconstruction of the nation, and nationalism was its basic ideology.
Fourthly, during the Park, Chung-hee regime, dubbed the period of football's restoration, the ideology of the Cold War and sports nationalism were implied. The Park regime was a military regime which emerged with the intensification of the Cold War, thus a political conflict with North Korea was inevitable as it had an opposing ideology. The cold war affected many social and cultural aspects in both South and North Korea, and it was a natural flow for sport in the two countries to reflect the Cold War ideology. As a result, during the Park regime, which can be called the period of football's restoration, sports nationalism, which was called the Cold War ideology, was projected through football.
Fifthly, after the Chun, Doo-hwan regime, the period of the great leap of Korean Football, during the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, football advanced by leaps and bounds through the ideology of Professionalism, Globalism and Collectivism. Of course, sports nationalism, which began during the Park regime, existed at that time, but a few changes appeared; the beginning of professionalism, with the launch of Pro-Football after the Chun regime, and Globalism in Korean football, followed by the success of the Seoul Olympics. After the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, collectivism developed as a characteristic ideology through football.
It is difficult to predict how Korean football will develop in the future. But one thing of which we can be sure is that future football will repeat the pattern of growth and decline, as it has in the past, due to the influence of social ideology as a cultural phenomenon. Therefore, the study of the changes in football and the ideological properties found in football will be a step in the right direction to survey the future development of Korean football.