Eul-yong Ta
Eul-Yong Ta is a term used to describe the incident when Korean footballer Lee Eul-Yong received a red card for slapping Chinese forward Li Yi in a match against South Korea and China in East Asian Cup in December 2003. The incident sparked endless parodies and evolved into somewhat of an internet meme.
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
Before the match
Throughout history, China struggled to end their losing streak against Korea which gave birth to the term "Koreaphobia" (공한증). Thus the match against Korea was a chance for China to win for the very first time. At the same time in Korea there was a strong anti-Chinese sentiment, because they felt China had distorted geography and history of Goguryeo, which many historians accept as a Korean state.
During the match
In the match of December 2003, the Chinese tried very hard to win adding more and more intensity to the game as it neared the end. 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, Chinese forward Li Yi pushed Lee immediately after he finished his pass. Lee was upset at Li's violent play and slapped Li on the back of his head, when Li Yi started to rolling on the ground grabbing his head exaggerating the situation. 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).[2] When the Chinese forward fell to the ground, his face showed signs of anger yet walked out calmly with pride when he received a red card.[1]
Reaction
When the incident occured, many Koreans felt that he did not deserve a red card, because of Li Yi's exaggeration to Lee's "light slap," and also naturally because Lee is Korean. Their anger towards China itself also contributed to this.
Pictures of the Eul-Yong Ta soon surfaced around the internet. The most famous one is a picture of Lee looking down angrily at the Chinese forward who has fallen on the ground and clasping his head with two hands and another Chinese player who is running towards where the incident took place from distance.
Websites like DC Inside, which specializes in parodies, began to produce numerous parodies to ridicule the incident. Famous examples include the "Dragonball version," "statue version," which shows Lee and Li as statues, and the crane version where Lee is driving a crane towards Li who has fallen on the ground. By June 2006, the number of parodies exceeded 200.[2] The parodies of Eul-Yong Ta also contain political statements. For example, some of the parodies reflect anti-Japanese sentiment by attacking Junichiro Koizumi or just Japan in general.
The parodies continued to be made even after 2006 World Cup when Korea lost in a controversial match against Switzerland. Along with many other internet parodies, the Eul-Yong Ta began to be used as a tool to express their anger towards Horacio Elizondo, the referee of the match at the time.[3]