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‘Poet in broadcasting booth’ Song Jae-ik passes away at 83

입력 2025.03.19 17:50

Hwang Min-kook

Former sports broadcaster Song Jae-ik passed away on March 18. He was 83 years old.
Song, who said he would “return to being one of the viewers” after his last broadcast at Jamsil Sports Complex five years ago, passed away in the arms of his family after battling cancer.
The deceased was a legendary figure who started broadcasting sports with boxing games at MBC in 1970 and transferred to SBS ahead of the Korea-Japan World Cup in 2002 and earned a six-figure salary. He covered six consecutive World Cups, from the Mexico World Cup in 1986, when Korea qualified for the tournament for the first time in 32 years, to the Germany World Cup in 2006. His broadcast of the France World Cup in 1998 with his “best friend” commentator Shin Moon-sun garnered 57 percent of the viewership.

‘Poet in broadcasting booth’ Song Jae-ik passes away at 83

Song is considered to have raised the standard of sports broadcasting. He was called the “poet in the broadcasting booth” for his witty words. “He contributed greatly to the popularization and entertainment of sports broadcasting in the days when there was nothing,” said Han Jun-hee, a sports commentator for Coupang Play. ”I remember him as a “maker of immortal words.”

It is still talked about Song’s shouting of "Mountain Fuji is collapsing" when Lee Min-sung (former coach of Daejeon Hana Citizen) scored a come-from-behind goal during the soccer match between Korea and Japan in1997. “I wanted to express the moment of Japan's collapse in the match,” he told a reporter after the broadcast. ”It was either the Emperor of Japan or Mountain Fuji, but I could not mention the Emperor, so I chose Mountain Fuji.”

The scene where the deceased said it was the most memorable was the moment when Korea made it to the semifinals of the Korea-Japan World Cup in 2002. At that time, Korea was only left with Hong Myung-bo's kick in the penalty shootout beyond the overtime blood fight in the quarterfinals against Spain in Gwangju. “Please raise your hands and hold them together. If you have a religion, please pray to God. If you don't have a religion, pray to your ancestors. May the mountain spirit of Mudeungsan help us.”

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Replaying the words, he said that he would never forget his love for the sports scene. In his last broadcast, on November 21, 2020, during the K League 2 match between Seoul E-Land FC and Jeonnam Dragons, he did not mention his retirement but said, "It's been caster Song Jae-ik so far."

He is survived by his daughter So-dam and son Song-gul. The funeral parlor was set up at Ewha Womans University Hospital and the coffin will leave the hospital on March 21.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.