Ohtani May Be South Korea’s Most-beloved Japanese Athlete. His Charm Is Winning Over Historic Rivals – News18

SEOUL, South Korea: Shohei Ohtani could also be South Korea’s most-beloved Japanese athlete, a testomony to his appeal in softening any lingering animosity between the 2 neighbors.

Since his arrival in South Korea along with his spouse for the Major League Baseball opener on Wednesday in opposition to the San Diego Padres, the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrity has been the main target of eager, particular consideration.

Many Korean followers are carrying Ohtani jerseys and rooting for him on the stadium. The Korean nationwide workforce supervisor covets his autograph and myriad media experiences and social media posts are praising him.

This is nothing new for the 2-manner baseball sensation, who in December signed a document $700 million, 10-yr contract to hitch the Dodgers. But a Japanese receiving such a therapy in South Korea is extraordinarily uncommon, due to historic grievances stemming from Japan’s 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

“Our social atmosphere has often made it difficult for us to openly say we like Japan,” stated Lee Jong-Sung, a sports activities tradition professional at Seoul’s Hanyang University. “I think Ohtani would perhaps be the first Japanese athlete who we can say we like. Maybe, some even consider him an honorary Korean citizen.”

Many of Ohtani’s South Korean supporters say they like him due to what they name his good manners in addition to his baseball excellence.

“Ohtani has been nice to Korean fans, so I think that’s why everyone likes him,” Park Sungjin, a 40-yr-outdated doctor carrying an Ohtani jersey, stated earlier than the Dodgers’ exhibition recreation with South Korea’s Kiwoom Heroes on Sunday.

“We have historical issues to be settled with Japan, but whether to like Ohtani is another matter,” Hwang Seon-young, one other Korean Othani fan, stated on the Gocheok Sky Dome.

Ohtani, who’s lauded in Japan as “the perfect person,” is aware of how you can captivate Korean followers. Before his departure to South Korea, he posted an Instagram picture displaying him making a “finger heart” gesture with a Korean nationwide flag emoji.

After his arrival in South Korea, he informed reporters that he’s all the time revered South Korea’s nationwide groups and known as South Korea “one of my favorite countries.”

“The country that Ohtani likes the most is South Korea. The Japanese who South Koreans like the most is Ohtani,” reads a Korean message posted on X, previously often called Twitter.

Relations between South Korea and Japan have improved considerably since final yr, with the South’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, taking a significant step towards addressing disputes over Japan’s colonial-period mobilization of compelled Korean laborers — one of many lengthy-working sticking factors in enhancing bilateral ties.

In 2019, a compelled-labor situation triggered widespread public campaigns in South Korea to boycott Japanese items and providers.

Ties between Korea and Japan have skilled on-once more, off-once more fluctuations. So if anti-Japan sentiments deepen in South Korea once more like in 2019, Ohtani followers might really feel a problem in publicly expressing their likings of the 29-yr-outdated.

But regardless of their usually-rocky political relations, South Korea and Japan are intently linked to one another culturally and economically. Many youthful South Koreans don’t harbor the identical robust resentment in opposition to Japan as their elders, they usually usually view Japanese athletes as simply overseas athletes.

“They view Japanese players more comfortably. They just think there is Ohtani in Japan while we have Son Heung-min,” Lee, the college professor, stated of a outstanding Korean footballer with Tottenham Hotspur.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)