For Korean Americans in LA, Son Heung-min is more than a soccer star

When Son Heung-min steps onto the pitch at BMO Stadium for the first time as a designated player, the superstar will be greeted by LAFC’s famously raucous fans — and chanting in Korean.

“Wherever you go, even in my dreams, I'll follow you with all my love,” said LAFC fan Josh Lee, translating the words he’s teaching phonetically to non-Korean speakers.

LAFC fans have been celebrating all week since learning the team had signed the South Korean forward from Tottenham Hotspur for about $26 million — a record transfer deal for MLS.

South Korean football player Son Heung-min holds his LAFC jersey during a news conference in Los Angeles on Aug. 6, 2025.

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Frederic J. Brown

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AFP via Getty Images

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Arguably the best footballer to come out of Asia, Son is the biggest global star to join MLS since Lionel Messi went to Inter Miami in 2023. One segment of the LAFC fan base has been following Son’s trajectory the longest — from his days as a Premier League novice to World Cup star and Tottenham captain.

“In the Korean community, for all of our differences, the one person everyone has an opinion on is Son Heung-min,” said Lee, a spokesperson for the Tigers Supporters Group, the LAFC fan group in Koreatown. “More than any president, more than any celebrity, everyone has a word of advice, everyone has a memory, everyone has a story with this guy.”

For Lee, it was the memory of Son in South Korea’s 2018 World Cup match against the world champs, Germany. Son scored a goal in the 97th minute to seal the match and send Germany home. Lee celebrated with his immigrant dad on the phone as he walked down Wilshire Boulevard after the victory.

“Yeah, I was crying,” said Lee, who relates to Son as a fellow gyopo, a term for ethnic Koreans who live outside of Korea.

The next month, LAFC fans hosted Son on his first-ever trip to L.A., where Lee got to personally tell the footballer how much he meant to him.

As it turns out, that particular match also endeared Son to L.A. fans of Mexico’s national team.

Son’s goal against Germany let Mexico advance in the tournament to the delight of Francisco Prieto, president of the LAFC supporters group known as The 3252 (named after the 3,252 seats in the north end of the stadium where fans congregate.)

“My family is Mexican, and I know how much I appreciate Son for that goal, and I know how much they appreciate Son,” Prieto said. “It's also the way that he understands the magnitude of what that meant for them.”

Son is known for his humility, approachability — and honesty. During his introduction by LAFC this week, Son said L.A. had not been his first choice, but management swayed him, as did the presence of the world’s largest Korean diaspora.

“So look — huge, huge Korean community, and I just want to make them very proud about a Korean footballer joining L.A.,” Son said. “I hope a lot of Koreans come to stadium, supporting me and supporting us.”

No doubt the stands will be filled with newer fans wearing Son “7” jerseys in black and gold and watching his two-footed finishing and curling shots.

LAFC supporters pose with Son Heung-min at BMO stadium.

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Rubencphotography

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His arrival is expected to boost ticket sales and, potentially, ticket prices in the same way Dodgers tickets surged after the signing of Shohei Ohtani. Prieto said supporters will communicate with the front office about keeping seats affordable.

“There's a lot of hard-working people that attend matches, that will go after working 12-hour shifts, two jobs, and then right after that, they go straight to the stadium,” Prieto said. “They don't even go home.”

To make Son feel at home, Lee expects more LAFC fans will learn how to belt out the Korean LAFC chant, which was adapted from an Argentinian version.

Don’t speak Korean? Don’t worry!

Lee and other Korean speakers will be teaching the chant at tailgates and drum rallies.