Ulsan City Paints Old Seats at Munsu Stadium Red
"Not the Team's Symbolic Color... Why Use Rival Team's Color?"
"Color of Mayor's Political Party" Raises Suspicions of Political Intent
Ulsan HD, a professional soccer K League 1 team, is facing an unexpected controversy over colors. On the 13th, Yonhap News reported, "Red seats have been introduced in some sections of the stands at Ulsan HD's home stadium, Munsu Football Stadium, and Ulsan HD supporters group 'Cheoyong Warriors' delivered condolence wreaths to Ulsan City Hall as a form of protest."
K League 1 Ulsan Hyundai supporters group 'Cheoyong Warriors' held a truck protest in downtown Ulsan on the 9th and 10th, opposing Ulsan City's plan to introduce red seats in some sections of the Munsu Football Stadium. Photo by Yonhap News
According to the photos, 20 condolence wreaths were placed along the roadside in front of the civil service office at Ulsan City Hall that day. The wreaths bore phrases such as "History engraved in blue, dark history engraved in red," "We do not turn red," and "Political color is red, Ulsan HD's color is blue." It was also reported that the Cheoyong Warriors conducted a protest by driving a truck displaying protest slogans through the city streets on the 9th and 10th.
On the afternoon of the 13th, condolence wreaths sent by the K League 1 Ulsan Hyundai supporters group 'Cheoyong Warriors' were lined up along the roadside in front of Ulsan City Hall. Photo by Yonhap News
The reason the club supporters took public action is that Ulsan City decided to introduce red seats, instead of the club's symbolic colors blue or yellow, to the aging seats at Munsu Stadium. The city is currently undertaking a project to replace the old seats on the third floor (15,694 seats) by March, and it is known that the color design chosen introduces red from the top down to the middle section.
On the 13th, part of the spectator seats at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium were painted red. Photo by Yonhap News
Claims have arisen that there is a political motive behind this. The Cheoyong Warriors stated, "Ignoring the team's symbolic colors and trying to insert the color of the People Power Party, the political party of Ulsan Mayor Kim Doo-gyeom," and pointed out, "Especially, red is the symbolic color of the rival team, Pohang Steelers." Ulsan city council members affiliated with the Democratic Party also stated on the 9th, "We hope the replacement of seats with colors opposed by fans will stop."
However, the city drew a line against claims of political intent, saying, "We applied a 'gradation' that gradually changes from blue to red from the bottom to the top to add a warm image to the cold image of blue."
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