Five Million Hit Streets to Cheer on South Korean Soccer Team

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, June 23, 2002

Five Million Hit Streets to Cheer on South Korean Soccer Team

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From downtown Seoul to the southernmost island of Jeju, more than five million people flooded urban streets with waves of red Saturday to cheer on their national soccer team fighting Spain for a World Cup semi-finals place in Gwangju, South Korea, local media reported on Sunday.

Waving national flags and shouting "Daehanminguk" (Republic of Korea) and "Korea is sure to win!", red-clad supporters began to throng more than 300 sites across the nation hours before the match, said the Korea Herald newspaper.

Large buildings in Seoul and other big cities put up banners, hoping that South Korea would beat Spain and make the semi-finals for the first time among Asian countries.

According to police estimates, at least five million supporterscrammed into the sites to watch the game displayed on giant outdoor television screens, rooting for their national soccer team.

The figure was far higher than previous figures. About 4.2 million people hit the streets to see the South Korea's match against Italy last Tuesday. A total of 550,000 South Korean fans took to streets on June 4 to watch their team's match against Poland on outdoor screens, while 770,000 and 2.78 million people poured onto the streets to see the United States vs South Korea match and the Portugal vs South Korea clash on June 10 and June 14,respectively.

In Seoul alone, about two million people flooded the City Hall Plaza and the Ganghawamun intersection in the center of the capital, dubbed the "mecca of street cheering," said the Korea Herald.

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