S. Korean football club Ulsan apologize for players' racist comments toward Thai player

South Korean football club Ulsan Hyundai FC issued an apology on Monday for their players' racist comments made online toward a Thai player.

Ulsan, the defending K League 1 champions, took to social media to apologize to fans and to the Thai player in question, Sasalak Haiprakhon, for "inappropriate words and action" by some of their players. The club said they will soon open disciplinary proceedings.

The comments in question were made on the Instagram page for Ulsan defender Lee Myung-jae over the weekend.

In a reply to a post, one of Lee's teammates, Lee Gyu-sung, referred to Lee Myung-jae as a Southeast Asian player, in an apparent jab at the dark tone of his skin. Another Ulsan player, Park Yong-woo, even called Lee "Sasalak," after Sasalak Haiprakhon, who played for another K League 1 club, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, in 2021.

A third Ulsan player, Jung Seung-hyun, and a club official also played along in the comment section.

Fans who saw this exchange made a screen grab of the conversation and shared the image on fan community sites or with the media, accusing the players of being racist toward Southeast Asian people.

Lee Myung-jae deleted the post. Park wrote an apology on his own Instagram page.

The K League, too, will consider opening disciplinary proceedings against the players.

"We have told Ulsan to hand in a detailed report of the incident by Wednesday, and we will decide whether to hold a disciplinary hearing after reviewing it," a K League official said. "We take this matter seriously." (Yonhap)