South Korea World Cup squad at odds with media over Son Heung-min mockery

South Korean players reportedly refrain from speaking to national media outside official World Cup commitments.South Korea’s preparations for their World Cup match against Mexico have been overshadowed by a rift between the players and the country’s media following disparaging comments about captain Son Heung-min.The spat reportedly led to the resignation of one of the team’s media officers on Tuesday. The national team has yet to confirm the resignation, which has been reported by some of the media covering the South Korean squad in Guadalajara.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Tunisia sack boss Sabri Lamouchi after World Cup thrashing by Swedenlist 2 of 4Spain held to shock draw by Cape Verde in their World Cup openerlist 3 of 4FIFA clears World Cup referee accused of making white supremacist gesturelist 4 of 4Meet Vozinha, Cape Verde’s 40-year-old star goalkeeper at the World Cupend of listAccess for the media had apparently been cut off after the comments against Son were caught on camera. Players reportedly refrained from speaking to South Korean media outside official World Cup commitments, and scheduled interviews with players were cancelled.Mexican media said there was a meeting between the team’s media officers and the South Korean media to discuss the incident.There was no media access scheduled on Tuesday. The pre-match news conference is scheduled for Wednesday.The South Korean football association said it regretted “the inappropriate remarks made by some media personnel during the national football team’s training at the Guadalajara base camp”. The organisation added the comments caused “great shock and disappointment” within the squad.The incident occurred during an open training session on June 7, days before South Korea beat the Czech Republic 2-1 in its first World Cup match.The 33-year-old Son, running with teammates, was mocked by unidentified media personnel over his military record in footage recorded by broadcaster JTBC, South Korea’s official rights holder for the tournament. The video was later leaked, prompting a strong reaction on social media.