Park Jun-hee
I ask the hard questions, so you don't have to 🗞️📝
From office meeting rooms to local pubs, fans find ways to fit World Cup into workday GS Retail employees watch South Korea's match against the Czech Republic at the GS Tower in southern Seoul's Gangnam on Friday. (Yonhap) For years, South Korean soccer fans were used to pulling all-nighters to watch World Cup games after work.But this year is different.With all three of Korea’s Group A matches kicking off at 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. on weekdays, people are finding themselves juggling work or school, while trying to follow the sport’s biggest spectacle.As the Taegeuk Warriors are set to face co-host Mexico, the favorite to top Group A, at 10 a.m. Friday, fans are once again trying to find ways to squeeze the "Brunch World Cup" into their schedules.Lee Ji-hoon, a 29-year-old corporate worker at Lotte Chemical, said his team will gather at the company’s meeting room to watch the game.“Last week, my team booked a meeting room to watch the opening game against the Czech Republic. We ordered pizza and hamburgers for an early team lunch. We will do the same on Friday and next week, when Korea will play against South Africa,” Lee told The Korea Herald.“I think the decision was left to each team manager. Our manager's view was that everyone would probably end up checking the score on their phones anyway, so we might as well watch together.”Lee’s experience reflects the varied ways companies are responding to the morning kickoffs.Samsung Electronics is also taking a flexible approach, broadcasting matches on screens across its Suwon headquarters in Gyeonggi Province while leaving it up to employees to decide whether to watch, as long as their work is not affected.“Our company broadcast the game on large screens inside the complex, so people watched the game against the Czech Republic together. It was a lot of fun, especially because Korea won. But it's not like we got free food or left early. If anything, you end up staying later to finish your work,” said Song, who works at Samsung’s Suwon headquarters.Although the company did not issue formal guidance on viewing, Song said his colleagues and senior managers are trying to avoid scheduling meetings during match hours, adding that the World Cup has become an opportunity to create a more festive atmosphere in the workplace.Similarly, LG Group opened viewing areas at its headquarters and organized workplace events, while GS Retail installed large screens at offices nationwide. Across a range of industries, companies have been serving up pizza, fried chicken and special cafeteria meals to employees gathering to watch the matches.The Friday-morning kickoffs are unlikely to cause major disruption at SK Group, as employees can take advantage of flexible work arrangements and the alternating four-day workweek adopted by several key affiliates, according to reports. SK hynix has also tapped into the World Cup atmosphere by organizing an in-house score prediction event for employees.Some employers have gone a step further by organizing viewing events of their own.Korea Investment & Securities drew an estimated 4,000 spectators to a giant-screen watch party outside its Yeouido headquarters in Seoul for Korea’s opening match, while OK Financial Group encouraged smaller office gatherings by providing employees with snack allowances for department-level viewing parties.Not all companies, however, have taken such a relaxed approach.Yang Nam-kyung, who works for a cosmetics company in Gyeonggi Province, said the World Cup has generated little excitement at her workplace.“In my department, which handles global marketing, nobody really talked about the World Cup. Everyone was focused on work. To be honest, I didn’t even realize that the World Cup had started,” the 26-year-old told The Korea Herald.“Also, the company cafeteria handed out nonalcoholic beer after Korea won its opening match, but I’m not sure whether it was because of the victory,” she added.Kwak, who also works in global marketing at one of K-pop’s big four agencies, said her team has had little opportunity to watch the matches because of meetings with overseas partners.“I would love to watch the matches, but everyone’s busy working. I haven’t seen a single person watching the World Cup,” she said. "Not even on their phone."In another case, Hyundai Motor Group allowed employees to attend a viewing event organized by the company’s soccer club. But they were required to count the entire time spent attending — including travel time — as nonworking hours, highlighting the different ways Korean workplaces are navigating the challenges of a weekday morning World Cup.Students, meanwhile, are facing a different challenge.While some universities have already entered summer break, others are still in session or wrapping up final exams, making it difficult for students to keep up with the World Cup.Kim Sang-hyup, a master’s student at Korea University, said he watched the opening match against the Czech Republic with his friends at a pub near the campus.“I’m busy with paperwork, but it’s the World Cup. As an avid soccer fan, I’ve been waiting for this for the past four years,” Kim told The Korea Herald.Kim said he plans to return to the same pub for Friday’s match against Mexico and Korea’s final group-stage game against South Africa.
