Chinese Soccer Fans Say "Let's Break Son Heung-min's Leg"... Photo of Him in Wheelchair Spreads

Chinese Soccer Fans' Remarks Under Fire Repeatedly
Malicious Composite Photos of Son Heung-min Spreading
Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in Also Receiving Malicious Comments

As the excessive behavior of Chinese football fans continues to be a problem, a manipulated photo showing South Korean national football player Son Heung-min injured and sitting in a wheelchair is spreading, drawing criticism worldwide.

A composite photo of Son Heung-min with a leg injury receiving help from his manager.
[Photo by Weibo]

On the 12th, a post titled "Photos trending on Chinese internet related to Korea vs China football match" was uploaded on an online community. The author, Mr. A, shared several photos captured from the Chinese social networking service (SNS) Weibo. In the photos posted by Mr. A, Son Heung-min is seen sitting in a wheelchair with a leg injury, receiving assistance from a manager. In another photo, Son Heung-min in the wheelchair is receiving a fruit basket from a Chinese player.

A composite photo of Son Heung-min sitting in a wheelchair with a leg injury, receiving a fruit basket from a Chinese player.
[Photo by Weibo]

One photo even shows four wheelchairs lined up with objects resembling trash bags placed on them. On these trash bags, the names Kim Min-jae, Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan, and Lee Kang-in are written in Chinese characters.

It is speculated that Chinese football fans’ anger towards the South Korean national team stems from Son Heung-min’s gesture of showing '3' and '0' with both hands (the score of the Korea-China match held last November) towards Chinese spectators who jeered during the game. Along with the malicious manipulated photos, Chinese football fans did not hesitate to make harsh remarks such as "We will order European-based players to make deep tackles and break their legs," "Son Heung-min is a useless player," and "I want to break his leg."

Korean netizens who came across this story responded with comments like "This shows the national dignity," "This is so malicious, shouldn’t they sue?", "This photo clearly shows what China thinks about Korea," "Chinese fans always behave like this," and "This is why prejudice against China is inevitable."

Meanwhile, in the second round of the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup qualifiers held at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 11th, South Korea secured a 1-0 victory against China.