▲ The scene of the traffic accident.
Players from the K League 1 professional football club Gwangju FC are drawing widespread praise after it was belatedly revealed that they rescued a driver from a burning vehicle following a traffic accident while returning from an away match.
According to the Gwangju club, the squad was heading back to Gwangju after playing an away match against Bucheon FC for Round 22 of K League 1 2026 (which ended in a 0-0 draw) held at Bucheon Stadium on the 8th.
While passing through a road in Singa-dong, Gwangsan-gu, after arriving in Gwangju in the early hours of the 9th, they witnessed a traffic accident scene.
Flames were shooting out from the wrecked vehicle in a highly dangerous situation.
Midfielder Shin Chang-mu and other players who were the first to get off the Gwangju team bus—which had stopped in the first lane with its hazard lights on—hurriedly ran over to the accident vehicle, checked on the driver's condition, and directly stepped in to carry out a rescue.
Shortly after, Icelandic forward Fridjonsson also approached the vehicle to assist with the rescue.
It was a perilous moment that could easily have led to a secondary accident, but the players did not hesitate.
After safely pulling the driver out of the vehicle, the club bus driver brought a fire extinguisher and began putting out the flames.
The medical trainers monitored the victim's condition and provided first aid until an ambulance arrived.
This good deed came to light through a submitted video uploaded on the YouTube channel "Han Moon-chul TV".
Upon hearing the news, the Korea Professional Football League (K League) requested fact verification from the Gwangju club in order to issue an award in accordance with its disciplinary and awards regulations.
The regulations state that a commendation can be awarded through deliberation by the Disciplinary and Awards Committee for "any executive, employee, member organization, or person within the jurisdiction of the League whose performance of duties serves as a model for others."
The Disciplinary and Awards Committee, which has mostly convened to issue "penalties" in the past, is scheduled to meet for a rare occasion to fulfill one of its original purposes: giving out an "award."
The most recent case of a K League player receiving a commendation for a good deed was in 2021, involving goalkeeper Kim Tae-hoon (currently on loan to Gyeongnam FC), who was with FC Anyang at the time.
At that time, Kim Tae-hoon witnessed a resident collapse near Ttukseom in Seoul, immediately performed CPR, and saved a life. The incident became known through news reports, earning him an award from the League.
(Photo: Screen capture from Han Moon-chul TV, Yonhap News)
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