South Koreans are living their best life in Mexico, enjoying immense warmth largely due to how enthusiastically they are embraced by locals. The roots of this unique hospitality can be traced in the 2018 World Cup when South Korea stunned Germany with a 2-0 victory, while they were already eliminated themselves. This surprising result saved Mexico from elimination, prompting ecstatic Mexican fans to swarm the South Korean embassy in Mexico City, lifting the consul general onto their shoulders and chanting in Spanish, ​"Coreano, hermano, ya eres mexicano!" ("Korean, brother, you're now Mexican”)

​However, this profound connection actually began over a century ago. In the early 1900s, thousands of Korean immigrants arrived in Mexico, to work on Yucatán's agave plantations, facing grueling physical labor.

When Japan occupied Korea in 1910 and stripped the nation of its liberty, after turning it into a Japanese protectorate in 1905, following Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War, these displaced workers organized. Despite earning next to nothing, they pooled their meager wages and sent them across the globe to finance the Korean resistance fighting for freedom.

​Ultimately, the extraordinary camaraderie witnessed today did not start on the pitch, but football rather simply reminded the world of a historic bond forged long ago by the sacrifices of those early migrant heroes.