Do we like Son Heung-min?
Our score: 8 out of 10. Clean on harm, a long run of charity and a victim in his own court case, but little is on record about where he stands on LGBTQ+ issues.
Son is the captain of South Korea and the face of Asian football. He got an exemption from full military service after the 2018 Asian Games gold, then did alternative duties including a three-week training course in 2020 and community service. That service is the thing some people still take cheap shots at.
The latest drama isn't of his making. In June, a recording from a training session in Guadalajara caught unidentified media personnel mocking his military record, and the team reportedly cut off Korean media access. The federation said it regretted the remarks and wanted to protect the squad. Son himself isn't quoted in the AP story, so we can't tell you his side.
On the harm test, we found no statements from him against LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the planet. We also found no conspiracy tangents, and no pattern of shady company in what we read. To be fair, that is partly because he mostly keeps his politics to himself, so this is a pass on the record, not a deep read on his values.
The good stuff is real. In 2022 the UN World Food Programme named him a Global Goodwill Ambassador to raise awareness of hunger. He has said he wants to be a voice for the mission to end hunger. Our searches also turned up past donations to bushfire and disaster relief at home.
Overall he sits near the top of the pile for an athlete this famous. He says he has never considered quitting football, and he talks about family first. Where he stands on LGBTQ+ rights is simply unknown, which is why it's an 8 and not a 10.