"(Korean: 역사를 잊은 민족에게 미래는 없다),[4] apparently aiming at the Japanese leaders' reluctance to admit to wrongdoings during its militaristic and colonial past, after they displayed huge pictures of Ahn Jung-geun, who assassinated the first Prime Minister of Japan and then-Japanese Resident-General of Korea Itō Hirobumi back in 1909, and Yi Sun-sin, a Korean naval commander who is famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war in the Joseon Dynasty back in the 16th century.

After the banner was taken down, "Red Devils," a group of South Korean football supporters, refused to cheer on the national team in the second half.

On its Facebook page, the Seoul sector of the Red Devils wrote that its members would not bang drums or chant songs for South Korea in protest of the decision by the KFA to remove the banner.

[6] Kuniya Daini, President of Japan Football Association, said "We ask the East Asian Football Federation to thoroughly investigate the matter and act in the appropriate fashion," and Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the incident was "extremely regrettable" and the Japanese government "will respond appropriately based on FIFA rules when the facts are revealed.

[7] Japanese Sports Minister Hakubun Shimomura went further on Tuesday, saying the style of the banners called into question "the nature of the people" in South Korea.