Is there such an EPL club? Official Japanese announcement for recruiting Koreans Controversy over the promotion of war criminals and Japanese soldiers with Mitoma → China's explosive public sentiment There is no apology related to Korea

Nov 29, 2025

Is there such an EPL club? Official Japanese announcement for recruiting Koreans Controversy over the promotion of war criminals and Japanese soldiers with Mitoma → China's explosive public sentiment There is no apology related to Korea
Photo=Brighton Capture



Does Brighton really ignore Korean soccer fans.

The Sun in the UK had no choice but to apologize to China on the 29th (Korea time) when Brighton faced a 'large-scale public relations crisis' due to social media posts. As photos of an academy player and Kaoru Mitoma spread rapidly, Brighton had to post an official statement on X (formerly Twitter).

What kind of post did he post to apologize like this. Brighton posted a congratulatory post on its official SNS channel that the under-12 youth team won the Premier League (EPL) education project and went to the Christmas Truth Cup in Belgium.




It was a young prospect and Japanese superstar Mitoma who appeared in the picture. The content itself was not a problem. The character card held by the two was the problem. The Sun 'The two people in the photo were seen holding cards depicting a Japanese imperial officer. The person is believed to be Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, who served in the Japanese military from 1942 to 1974. Onoda was living in seclusion after World War II, but the Japanese government officially announced that he had died in 1959.

Is there such an EPL club? Official Japanese announcement for recruiting Koreans Controversy over the promotion of war criminals and Japanese soldiers with Mitoma → China's explosive public sentiment There is no apology related to Korea
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The post has become a big controversy in China. The media reported that the post was shared on Weibo, a Chinese SNS account with 10 million followers, and then exploded. This account is known to be a favorite place for EPL fans in East Asia. The Japanese Imperial Army committed numerous atrocities in China during World War II.

Then 'This post has brought a huge headwind and is being criticized as 'Huge PR Crisis'. Brighton then had to issue a formal apology to the whole of China' a statement issued by Brighton. Brighton apologises sincerely to the club for any inconvenience caused in China by the recent post regarding the participation of academy players in the Christmas Truth Cup. We value China's fans very much, and we never meant to offend them in any way.




However, there was no apology to Korean fans. Although it was controversial in China, the Japanese military did not only commit evil acts in China during World War II. They colonized Korea and tormented Koreans for decades.

Another reason why Brighton's controversy is hard to see as happening is related to Yoon Do-young, Korea's top prospect, who was hired in July. When Brighton announced the recruitment of Yoon Do-young, it introduced him in Japanese, not in Korean. When Korean fans protested strongly, they deleted the Japanese official without any apology and then posted the official in English again.

Is there such an EPL club? Official Japanese announcement for recruiting Koreans Controversy over the promotion of war criminals and Japanese soldiers with Mitoma → China's explosive public sentiment There is no apology related to Korea
Photo=Brighton Capture
Yoon Do-young must have been aware that he is a Korean player, but it is a ridiculous mistake. Four months after the incident, photos of Japanese soldiers during World War II were posted. Is Brighton only for Japanese fans because it has Mitoma.






This article was translated by Naver AI translator.