This EPA photo shows a mural of former Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min outside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Dec. 9, 2025. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s sporting year unfolded around one outsized figure: Son Heung-min. The national football icon lifted his first European trophy with Tottenham Hotspur in the spring, then stunned fans by crossing the Atlantic to join Los Angeles Football Club, a move that instantly turned him into Major League Soccer’s latest star attraction.
His whirlwind year topped Yonhap News Agency’s annual survey of the nation’s biggest sports stories, earning 276 points in voting by journalists across newspapers, broadcasters and digital outlets.
Son’s Europa League victory in May, a landmark moment both for him and for Tottenham, offered a rare bright spot in an otherwise muted Premier League season in which injuries blunted his once-reliable scoring touch. But by August, the forward had dramatically rewritten the narrative.
After announcing his departure from Tottenham during the club’s Seoul tour, Son joined LAFC, where he emerged as the most influential MLS signing since Lionel Messi, scoring prolifically and drawing sellout crowds in every city he visited.
Baseball, South Korea’s most entrenched pastime, claimed the year’s second-biggest story line. The Korea Baseball Organization broke its attendance record for the second straight year, surpassing 12.31 million fans and underscoring the league’s continued post-pandemic resurgence.
South Korean soccer player Son Heung-min holds a birthday gift from the event organizers during a fan meeting celebrating the launch of the Adidas F50 at Times Square in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul, on July 6, 2024. His birthday is on July 8. (Yonhap)
The men’s national football team provided a more contentious subplot. Though South Korea secured qualification for its 11th straight FIFA World Cup, the campaign was marked by shaky performances against weaker regional opponents and intensifying criticism of Korea Football Association President Chung Mong-gyu. The turmoil ranked third in Yonhap’s survey.
In October, the LG Twins cemented their return to prominence by defeating the Hanwha Eagles for their second Korean Series title in three years, a run that placed fourth in the rankings.
A leadership shift in the country’s top sports body followed soon after: Olympic table tennis champion Ryu Seung-min unseated incumbent Lee Kee-heung as president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, earning the fifth spot on the list.
Son Heung-min (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Badminton star An Se-young, fresh from her first Olympic gold, continued her unprecedented dominance with 10 international titles this season, becoming the first women’s singles player to reach double-digit victories in a year. Her achievements placed sixth.
A more somber moment landed at No. 7: the death of a baseball fan struck by a dislodged stadium louver during a KBO game in March, an incident that prompted sweeping safety inspections and forced the NC Dinos to play weeks of road games.
Volleyball legend Kim Yeon-koung’s farewell season came in at No. 8. She led the Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders to a championship before retiring, concluding one of the sport’s most storied careers with yet another MVP performance.
Pitcher Cody Ponce of the Hanwha Eagles earned ninth place after a historic Triple Crown season that included a league-record 252 strikeouts, a 17-game winning streak to open the year and a subsequent contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Rounding out the top 10 was Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, which reclaimed its former dominance under coach Gus Poyet by securing a record 10th K League 1 title and completing a domestic double with the Korea Cup. The team’s dramatic turnaround—after nearly being relegated the previous year—was tempered only by Poyet’s abrupt resignation days after the club’s final triumph.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
