Building South Korea’s club heading into the world championship proved difficult. With most players off in the United States, the full team couldn’t gather. Instead, group chats by position, covering strategy and training, were held. Those in South Korea met many weekends.
“The strongest teams are the greatest families because they have the strongest bonds. It’s hard to have that bond if 10 are in South Korea and 13 in the United States,” Min Jae explained, looking up as several players from other squads staying in the hotel headed to the Mediterranean Sea beach.
To foster cohesion, the Koreans organized a players-only retreat in late June in a rented apartment in Seoul’s Hongdae neighborhood. They drank beer, talked and watched the World Cup.
Now, Min Jae said, “I’d say we’re very close as a team, even sharing personal stories. It’s very exciting to see.”
Post-Israel, the brothers’ paths look promising, too.
Min Jae took a job in Seoul in health care policy. The field has carried meaning since his military service, when, attached to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) for most of 2014, Min Jae witnessed people dying of malaria and others drinking dirty water. Corruption prevented vital medications from reaching patients, including refugees. He knew there had to be a better way.
He once aspired to become a doctor or a research scientist. South Sudan changed everything. There, Min Jae said, “I realized that overall health care is [what] I’m interested in.”
Likewise, Clint is acting to improve the world.
At Yale, he became aware of the dwindling number of South Korean women, now in their 90s, who’d been sexually enslaved by Japanese invaders during World War II. Identical works depicting one then-girl, known as the “Statue of Peace,” have been placed in several American cities, following the first one that faces Japan’s embassy in Seoul.
Clint is trying to erect more statues. After the world games, he’ll work for the Foundation for Justice, a South Korean organization seeking justice for sex slaves, known as “comfort women.”
“These women need to be apologized to, compensated,” he said. “Sexual enslavement isn’t only about delayed justice in Korea, but about violence against women and sexual discrimination.”
On the field and off, the Yoo brothers are scoring goals.