Referees Yoon Jae-yeol and Ji Seung-min of the Korea Football Association have set a milestone of 400 K-lag games.
The Korea Football Association presented 400 game commemorative plaques and 500,000 won E-Mart gift certificates to the two judges in Cheongju-Jeonnam/Daegu-Gimcheon match on March 1 and 3, in which referee Ji Seung-min and referee Yoon Jae-yeol participated.
The record is incredible. Both judges are veteran umpires who have been in their 10th year in the K-League. An average umpire runs 6 kilometers per game. He also undergoes physical fitness tests and year-end umpire evaluations every year.
Without thorough self-management and skills, 400 games is a record that no one can easily achieve. These are the impressions of the two judges who spoke to Spotify News on the phone.
“First of all, 400 games is a huge honor for me personally. It is only possible if I play for more than 10 years. I am happy but I also remember the difficult times. I always tried not to look disorganized in the stadium.
I didn’t expect to achieve this far. I was lucky in many ways and put a lot of effort into it, but I feel like I’m getting a lot of rewards for it. Also, I’m grateful to my colleagues. Without my colleagues, this place would not have been created.
We are paid every game. If you are injured as the head of a family, you will have a hard time financially. I paid a lot of attention, but I am proud that I overcame that well.
There are so many things I felt after going to the Asian Cup this time. I will try the 2026 North-Central America World Cup, but I think there will still be a World Cup trio on the men’s side. I really think it is a competition that has shown that Korean referees are competitive. I will continue to try harder to be a model for my juniors.
The judging world is changing a lot. The professional judging council also starts as a corporation. As a society, I think I can pay attention to many aspects of educational projects such as service and training judges. I will contribute to the development of judges by having many conversations with the judging room in the future.”
“It felt like 300 games yesterday, but I really didn’t know it was 400 games. I thought it was true, but I was so surprised. I think it was all the more memorable because referee Kim Woo-sung also prepared a cone. Nothing goes well alone. I think I came all the way here because of my seniors and juniors.
I can’t even remember my first professional game because I was so nervous. I think I was really nervous in this 400 game. I think first-year referees, 10th-year referees and referees are all the same. 유흥알바
I always make up my mind before I go in. Some referees pray for the game to end safely. I shout “no accidents” in my mind for a minute.
He is completely different from the judges 10 years ago. He is highly motivated and more thorough in self-management. That is why he has more expectations for the organization.