"Mount Fuji is Collapsing"... Caster Song Jae-ik Passes Away

Passed Away After Battling Cancer at 82
"Mount Fuji is Collapsing"
Rose to Fame as a Star Caster with His Charismatic Commentary

Song Jae-ik, former caster. Provided by Korea Professional Football League

Former sports caster Song Jae-ik, who was active as a football caster from the 1990s to the 2000s, has passed away at the age of 82.

On the 18th, Yonhap News reported, "Caster Song passed away this morning in Dangjin, Chungnam, after battling cancer since being diagnosed in April last year." Song's son told Yonhap News, "Three years ago, after my mother passed away, my father struggled and was diagnosed with cancer last year. Although he underwent treatment, the cancer recently recurred, and after that, it became difficult to do anything."

Born in 1942, Caster Song graduated from Woosuk University with a degree in English Literature and joined MBC as an announcer in 1970. In the early days, he mainly covered boxing broadcasts, but during the 1986 Mexico World Cup, he formed a duo with commentator Shin Moon-sun and became a star football caster. Notably, during the final qualifiers of the 1998 France World Cup, when Lee Min-sung scored a winning goal at the 41st minute of the second half, he famously said, "Mount Fuji is collapsing," which attracted great attention. In 2020, he appeared on tvN's 'You Quiz on the Block' and recalled, "The thought of 'Let's touch Japan's pride' came to my mind," explaining, "I said that because I could see Mount Fuji."

Song's surviving family includes his daughter Song So-dam and son Song Geol. The funeral is being held at the Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital funeral hall, and condolences can be offered starting from the 19th. The funeral procession will be on the 21st, and the burial site is Daehogi Public Cemetery in Dangjin. ☎ 02-6986-4440