Perhaps the most important person in Huh Mimi’s judo career is no longer with her.

Huh was born in Japan to a Korean father and a Japanese mother. As a junior, she was competing with the Japanese flag on her chest.

But it all changed in 2021. Her grandmother, to whom Huh was particularly close, had one final wish before she passed away. She wanted her granddaughter to switch allegiance and start competing for South Korea, the country of her birth.

Huh did just that. She made the South Korean national team in 2022 and won her first world title in May this year. That quickly turned Huh into a medal threat, someone who could win South Korea’s first Olympic gold in women’s judo in 28 years.

Huh came up just short on Monday in Paris, though, as she lost to Christa Deguchi of Canada in the final of the women’s -57-kilogram event at Champ-de-Mars Arena.

“I really wanted to win a gold medal here, and so I am a bit disappointed,” Huh said. “But it’s been my dream to compete in an Olympic Games. I am happy that I was able to grab a medal.”

She said she thought a lot about her grandmother after the competition ended.

“I would tell her that I’ve worked so hard to get this far and that I will continue to work hard,” Huh said with a smile. “I am really glad I decided to put the Korean flag on my chest.”

In the final, Huh picked up her third “shido,” or a 스포츠 warning, for false attack during the extra period, resulting in an anti-climactic win for Deguchi.

Huh was the far more aggressive one in the extra session, with Deguchi visibly running on fumes. Huh could have been forgiven for feeling she got unfairly penalized for trying to put on a move, but she said she accepted the call.

“It’s part of judo. There’s nothing I can do about it,” she said. “I have to be better prepared the next time.”

Still just 21 years old with a whole career ahead of her, the judoka said she will only get better from here.

“I will be four years older and probably stronger,” she said of the 2028 Olympics. “I feel like I can win a gold medal at the next Olympics.

Whoever the next head coach of South Korea turns out to be — and the appointment should not take too long now — he will be happy with the draw for the third round of the 2026 World Cup. That’s no disrespect to the other five teams in Group B. However, given that South Korea could have been grouped with Australia, Saudi Arabia, China, Bahrain and Indonesia, the actual opposition does not look quite so daunting.

Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine and Kuwait will present plenty of challenges but they should all be surmountable ones for the Taeguk Warriors. The top two teams from each of the three groups of six will qualify for the World Cup — which will be held in North America. The half-dozen teams that finish in third and fourth will go on to a further stage where there will be two more places up for grabs.

After the draw, South Korea will feel it has a great chance for an 11th successive appearance on the global stage.

“We are aware of each team’s abilities and every game will be tough but we will try our best to achieve our target,” said Lee Lim-saeng, the Korea Football Association’s Technical Director, in Kuala Lumpur where the draw took place. “I won’t say we are completely happy with the draw because we have a lot of tough games. We respect the qualities of all the teams in our group but we have to be confident that we can make it.”

Playing five teams from the Middle East does make things difficult logistically. It means five long trips for South Korea but then the opposite is true. The opponents won’t enjoy flying over to Seoul for their games either.

Yet the Asian Cup in January and February was a reminder that any complacency will be punished. Korea struggled to a win over Bahrain in the opening game which was followed by a 2-2 draw with Jordan when Korea needed a last-minute goal to avoid defeat. Then there was the semi-final and another meeting with Jordan. The East Asian team was expected to win and progress to the final but instead was outclassed and lost 2-0. 한국을 Another meeting with the men from Amman will not be taken lightly by South Korea but there is also a chance for revenge. At least Jordan is also currently without a coach as Hussein Ammouta, the Moroccan who did such a good job at the Asian Cup, stepped down just a few days before the draw was made.

Oman came close to qualifying for the 2022 World Cup but does not seem to have progressed much since then while Kuwait is one of the weaker teams in the final 18. Iraq is a talented team, and its Spanish coach Jesus Casas has been linked with the Korea job. South Korea has never faced Palestine before and will find a defensively well-organized team.

Some very tough away trips lie ahead and the trickiest ones may be when Korea plays in Seoul and then faces a long flight west for another game five days later. On the plus side, the other five teams are likely to take plenty of points from each other meaning that a good home performance and a couple of wins away will be enough.

Besieged by criticism over its recent hiring of the new men’s national team head coach, the Korea Football Association (KFA) defended its selection process Monday while rejecting charges of favoritism.

The KFA posted a chronology on its website detailing the process leading to its hiring of Hong Myung-bo as the new men’s bench boss, and also uploaded a “Q&A” item to offer answers to questions surrounding the legitimacy of Hong’s appointment.

The KFA named Hong, then head coach of the K League 1 club Ulsan HD FC, as the new men’s head coach on July 7. His appointment was formally approved by the KFA’s board of directors in a vote that ran for three days, from July 10 to 12.

The KFA had been trying to fill the men’s coaching vacancy since firing Jurgen Klinsmann in February. It interviewed a few foreign-born candidates and even came close to hiring an American tactician Jesse Marsch in May before the former Leeds United coach took the Canadian men’s head coaching position.

The KFA continued to review candidacies of foreign coaches but did a quick about-face and gave Hong the reins.

Critics quickly argued that the KFA wasted five months going over foreign candidates only for show, when it had Hong in mind all along, and that the KFA disregarded its own vetting process to hire a coach to the liking of its chief, Chung Mong-gyu.

The fact that the KFA hired Hong after only a brief meeting with the KFA’s technical director Lee Lim-saeng, raised eyebrows. Foreign candidates had to do hours of interviews and give presentations on their football philosophy and tactics, while Hong wasn’t asked to do the same.

Park Joo-ho, a former player who had served on the KFA’s National Teams Committee, which was put in charge of the hiring process, claimed in a YouTube video that many of his fellow committee members kept pushing for a Korean-born head coach and refused to even consider foreign candidates. Park also said he was not informed of the KFA’s selection of Hong beforehand and he found out about the appointment while recording the clip that has generated over 3.4 million views.

The public anger reached a point where the sports ministry decided last week to launch an audit into the KFA’s operations.

Against this backdrop, the KFA said Monday it had not committed any wrongdoing during its selection process.

On charges that the KFA gave Hong a free pass because he didn’t have to give any presentation, the football federation said, “Members of the National Teams Committee were very familiar with the coaching philosophy and careers of all Korean candidates, and so we didn’t require any additional materials from them. Hong was the No. 1 candidate among Korean coaches from the very beginning.”

“Coach Hong had led Ulsan to back-to-back K League 1 championships and had already proven his abilities,” the statement continued. “The committee members agreed that if they were hiring a Korean coach, it had to be Hong.”

The KFA noted that before Lee’s meeting with Hong, one foreign candidate prepared a 22-page presentation along with 16 video clips for his interview, while another came with 16 pages of material.

“However, the amounts of these materials do not serve as evidence for these coaches’ abilities,” the KFA added. “Our technical director Lee Lim-saeng was not convinced that these candidates’ tactical choices would fit well with the KFA’s technical philosophy.”

The KFA said it was prepared to pick one of those two foreign candidates if Lee’s meeting with Hong hadn’t taken place. Lee waited for Hong outside the coach’s home on the night of July 5, after Hong had coached Ulsan in a K League contest earlier that evening.

“In their meeting, Lee and Hong discussed how to best run the national team and how to build connectivity between national teams in different age groups,” the 커뮤니티 KFA said. “Lee was able to confirm Hong’s willingness to execute our plans. Based on that, he offered Hong the head coach position.”

Hong is currently traveling to Europe to interview candidates for assistant positions on his backroom staff, and he has also met with South Korean national team mainstays plying their trade in Europe.

He met with longtime captain Son Heung-min in London last week, and then sat down with Germany-based players, Kim Min-jae and Lee Jae-sung, over the weekend.

The KFA said Hong connected with midfielder Hwang In-beom and defender Seol Young-woo in Belgrade. They are teammates on the Serbian club Crvena zvezda.

Hong is expected to return to South Korea later this week and add Korean coaches to his staff. He will likely announce his choices at a press conference next week. 

Running for a seat on an International Olympic Committee (IOC) body dedicated to representing athletes’ voices, Korean golfer Park In-bee has arrived in Paris to launch her election campaign in earnest.

The LPGA Hall of Famer landed at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on Monday night, decked out in a “Team Korea” polo shirt. She will be vying for one of four spots opening up on the IOC Athletes’ Commission.

Four athletes from four different sports will be elected by their peers during the Paris Olympics, which begins Friday. The voting results will be unveiled on Aug. 7.

Members of the Athletes’ Commission will serve an eight-year term, and have the same functions and responsibilities as other members. One of the outgoing members this year is Korean Olympic table tennis champion Ryu Seung-min.

Park, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist and a seven-time LPGA major champion, had been scheduled to travel to France last week but postponed her trip by a few days because she was battling flu-like symptoms.

Park told Yonhap News Agency that she was feeling much better.

“I tried to get as much rest as possible on the plane,” Park said. “I will tour the athletes’ village tomorrow and meet some athletes.”

Park announced her pregnancy on July 12, her 36th birthday, and said she is expecting her second child later this year. She acknowledged that campaigning while 토토 pregnant will present some physical challenges.

“There may be some days when I won’t feel great, and I will have to be efficient with my campaign plans,” Park said. “I will have to see what the weather conditions are like and figure out how much I can do. I will try to meet as many athletes as possible.”

Park was chosen as the Korean candidate for the commission in August 2023, beating out other accomplished athletes, such as four-time Olympic shooting champion Jin Jong-oh and volleyball legend Kim Yeon-koung.

“It’s been about a year since I became the candidate, and now that I’ve arrived here, I feel like this is getting started for real,” Park said. “It feels a bit strange to come to an Olympic host city without my golf bag. But I am excited about meeting athletes starting tomorrow.”

In addition to Ryu, Korea has two other IOC members: Kim Jae-youl, president of the International Skating Union, and Lee Kee-heung, head of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee

Andy Murray will officially retire from tennis after the 2024 Summer Games, he announced Tuesday on social media.

“Arrived in Paris for my last ever tennis tournament,” Murray wrote on Instagram and X. “Competing for Great Britain has been by far the most memorable weeks of my career and I’m extremely proud to get do it one final time!”

Murray, 37, is a three-time Olympic medalist. He won gold in the men’s singles tournament at London 2012 and Rio 2016. He also earned silver in the mixed doubles tournament at London 2012.

Murray also competed at Beijing 2008. He withdrew before his first match at the Tokyo 2020 tennis tournament because of a quadriceps injury.

Murray is the only tennis player — male or female — to win two Olympic gold medals in singles play.

The Paris 2024 men’s singles tennis tournament will be held from Saturday through Aug. 4 at Roland Garros, the same site as the French Open. Murray is planning to compete in 스포츠 singles and doubles.

No. 26 Jack Draper, No. 44 Cam Norrie and No. 59 Dan Evans are the other men who will compete for Great Britain at the 2024 Summer Games.

The draw for Paris 2024 will be held Thursday.

Korea will win nine gold medals and rank 10th in the medal table at the Paris Olympics, a U.S. sports data analysis firm projected Tuesday.

The latest version of the Virtual Medal Table by Gracenote also had Korea winning four silver and 13 bronze medals.

In its June projections, Gracenote said Korea would win eight gold, five silver and 16 bronze medals.

The stated goal by the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee is to win five gold medals and finish around 15th in the medal race.

Gracenote said three of the nine Korean gold medals will come from archery — in the men’s, women’s and mixed team events.

The company also predicted two team gold medals for Korea in fencing — in the men’s sabre and the women’s epee events.

Individually, Gracenote predicted gold medals from An Se-young in women’s singles in badminton, Lee Do-hyun in men’s sport climbing, Seo Geon-woo in men’s taekwondo and Park Hye-jeong in women’s weightlifting.

Gracenote’s projected silver medalists were: Lee So-hee and Baek Hana in women’s doubles in badminton, Hwang Sun-woo in the men’s 200-meter freestyle swimming, Lee Da-bin in women’s taekwondo and Kim Su-hyeon in women’s weightlifting.

The data company listed athletes in archery, badminton, fencing, artistic gymnastics, judo, modern pentathlon, table tennis and taekwondo as possible bronze medalists.

Among those missing from the list were men’s high jumper Woo Sang-hyeok, one of two flag bearers for Korea at the opening ceremony who will also carry big 한국을 medal hopes for the country, and LPGA golfer Ko Jin-young, former world No. 1 taking her second crack at her first Olympic medal.

Swimmer Kim Woo-min, the reigning world champion in the men’s 400m freestyle, also didn’t make it to Gracenote’s list.

For the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Gracenote predicted Korea would win seven gold, nine silver and four bronze medals. The country finished with six gold, four silver and 10 bronze medals.

Gracenote had the U.S. and China finish first and second with 39 gold and 34 gold medals, respectively. The host country France was projected to win 27 gold medals to finish third.

As the late “Parasite” actor Lee Sun-kyun’s final work “Land of Happiness” is set to hit theaters soon, the co-stars of the period film were overwhelmed with emotions and struggled to hold back tears as they recalled their ensemble with the late actor.

“Land of Happiness” delves into the historical context of the 1979 assassination of former President Park Chung-hee, centering on the story of Park Tae-joo (Lee) who becomes involved in the assassination under his superior’s command and the lawyer Jung In-hoo (Jo Jung-suk) who defends him.

Director Choo Chang-min, best known for the 2012 film “Masquerade,” said that through this film, viewers will be able to “see what a great actor Lee Sun-kyun was.”

“If there’s one thing I can guarantee, it’s this: when viewers watch this film, they will realize what an excellent actor we’ve lost,” Choo said.

Choo also mentioned that the late actor told him that he had decided to participate in the film because actor Jo was in it.

“Lee Sun-kyun told me that he thought Jo Jung-suk was a really good actor and that he wanted to work with Jo and learn from him,” the director said. “I was surprised 커뮤니티 by his attitude. I thought such a good actor still had curiosity and aspirations and approached acting with a learning mindset.”

In response, Jo, with tears in his eyes, said it was an honor to appear in the same work with Lee.

“Lee also told me like that and I thought he was joking. I’m really grateful. I relied on him a lot too,” he said. “In this work, viewers will be able to see a weightiness and seriousness in Lee Sun-kyun that they haven’t seen before.”

The group NewJeans, who debuted in 2022 with its self-titled album celebrated its seconds anniversary. The group quickly cemented its place in the music scene and broke numerous records on major domestic and international charts.

It has achieved rapid success, topping the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 charts, among others, with all five of its albums selling over a million copies since its debut, showcasing its immense popularity.

Praised for unique concepts, music and outstanding achievements, NewJeans continues to make strides in the K-pop industry while maintaining a distinct identity.

The group’s recent fan meeting at Tokyo Dome on June 26 and 27 exemplifies its rising popularity. NewJeans performed at the Tokyo Dome just one year and 11 months after its debut, the shortest time after debut for a foreign artist to do so.

Despite being a weekday event, tickets sold out quickly, and even restricted-view seats were opened, drawing an audience of approximately 91,200 over two 토토 days.

The strong response helped its Japanese debut single “Supernatural” surpass 1 million in cumulative sales, reaffirming its global appeal.

According to the group’s agency, Ador, NewJeans continues to receive love calls from Japanese terrestrial broadcasters and additional performance requests from regions outside Tokyo.

The advertising industry also seeks new collaborations with the group. In this context, NewJeans is credited with bridging cultural gaps between Korea and Japan.

Having set numerous, seemingly unbreakable records and maintaining a strong international presence, NewJeans is poised for further growth.

Expanding its influence beyond K-pop, the group shared its thoughts on its 2-year anniversary in a Q&A format.

A sentence in a BBC news article stirred up the Korean music industry on July 11. The article, titled “Will K-Pop’s AI Experiments Pay Off?” highlighted the increasing use of AI in Korean music production, focusing on the group Seventeen.

The BBC noted that the music video for Seventeen’s new song “Maestro,” released in April, featured graphics seemingly generated by AI. It also suggested that AI might have been used in the songwriting process, citing member Woozi’s comments about “experimenting” with AI in music creation.

Following the BBC report, Seventeen quickly denied these claims. Woozi, the group’s member and a producer, said on his Instagram on July 14, “All of Seventeen’s music is written and composed by human creators.”

Fans of Seventeen expressed their frustration by copying Woozi’s message in the comments section of the “Maestro” music video.

After Pledis Entertainment requested a correction, the BBC removed the part of the article mentioning AI’s involvement in songwriting.

While the BBC’s report on Seventeen was resolved as a misunderstanding, it underscored the growing use of AI in content creation in the music industry.

AI-based music production programs are now readily available, allowing even amateurs to create songs and write lyrics easily.

However, this rise in AI-generated content has brought significant copyright concerns. Artists, composers and lyricists are increasingly worried about AI encroaching on their domain. Currently, there are no legal standards, making disputes inevitable.

According to the Korean Copyright Act, a work is defined as “a creative production that expresses human thoughts and emotions.”

For songs, copyright is granted if the sound recording is recognized as a work, and only then can it be registered with the Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA). 스포츠 Registered songs can generate revenue from streaming.

Music created by AI is not recognized as a work since the creator is not “human.” For instance, in 2022, AI composer EvoM had six of its songs registered with KOMCA, but their copyright payments were later suspended when it was discovered that the compositions were AI-generated.

Since AI-created songs are not legally considered works, they are not protected from replication or plagiarism.

Movie theaters are emerging as a new venue for K-pop fans to enjoy performances by their favorite stars. This shift comes as more concert films are being released, filling the gap left by the underwhelming results of recently anticipated blockbusters.

K-pop boy group SEVENTEEN will be releasing the concert film “SEVENTEEN TOUR ‘FOLLOW’ AGAIN TO CINEMAS” on Aug. 14, according to its agency Pledis Entertainment. The movie will follow the group’s two-day concert “SEVENTEEN TOUR ‘FOLLOW’ AGAIN TO SEOUL,” filmed on April 27 and 28 at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo District, Seoul.

The film will show the 13-piece group’s first performance at one of the largest concert venues in Korea, performing songs from its latest album “17 IS RIGHT HERE,” including “MAESTRO,” “LALALI” and “Spell.” The performances are captured through 360-degree cameras and cinematic cameras to offer a full view of the stage.

The concert movie will also be screened in special effect theaters: ScreenX with a 270-degree panoramic screen, 4DX with motion seats and effects and ULTRA 4DX.

“As SEVENTEEN’s first concert at World Cup Stadium since their debut, the members proved their reputation as ‘masters of performance’ by connecting with about 70,000 audience members over the two days. Such heated atmosphere from the live concert will offer another level of immersion on screen,” the agency said in the release.

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK is also set to release its concert film “BLACKPINK WORLD TOUR [BORN PINK] IN CINEMAS,” on July 31, celebrating the eighth anniversary of the group’s debut.

The movie will deliver the four-piece act’s powerful performances during the finale concert of its world tour “BORN PINK” at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro District, Seoul, in September 2023.

The group set a record as the K-pop girl group with the biggest-scale world tour, holding about 66 concerts in 34 different countries and drawing over 1.8 million fans to attend.

The film will also offer the footage from the group’s global tour, as well as the spectacles of its finale performance. It is scheduled to be released in theaters across 110 countries.

K-pop group TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s first virtual reality (VR) concert film is also set to hit the theaters on July 31.

Titled “HYPERFOCUS: TOMORROW X TOGETHER VR CONCERT,” the movie will show the group performing its hit songs, such as “Sugar Rush Ride” and “Deja Vu” in a VR setting.

“As we contemplated how to more closely communicate with fans, we had the opportunity to participate in a new type of content, so we came to do this VR concert,” the group 한국을 said in the release. “Just as it was a unique experience for the members, we hope it will be a fantastic memory and experience for the fans as well.”

The film will be screened exclusively at Megabox COEX in Gangnam District, Seoul, and is scheduled to additionally open in five cities in the United States, including Houston, Chicago and New York, starting with Los Angeles on Aug. 8.

Singer and actor Lee Jun-ho’s concert film will have an exclusive screening at CGV on July 24, in celebration of the 11th anniversary of his solo debut.

The film, “2024 Lee Junho Concert: The Day We Meet Again” (direct translation), will follow the singer’s concert of the same name, held in January at Jamsil Arena in Songpa District, Seoul. It will show the singer performing a set including his self-written songs against the band’s live music.