The peninsula is turning red Tuesday as Team Korea plays Poland in its first match of the 2002 World Cup. Led by the official supporter group the Red Devils, the entire nation is focusing on the national team's challenge for its first win in its sixth appearances at the largest single sporting event.

Residents of an apartment complex near the Asiad Stadium hung some ten banners from high-rises with cheering phrases, and the streets of Busan have been filled with the cheers and shouts of soccer fans since early morning, with groups of spectators heading for the stadium. Soccer fans who failed to secure tickets to the much-anticipated game are flocking to cheering locations at Busan Station and Haeundae Beach, where the games will be broadcast on super-sized screens.

All means of transportation to Busan were packed for the day, with Busan-bound tickets from Seoul sold out, including five special trains. All Korean Air flights to Busan were sold out from 1:00pm to 6:00pm, as were Asiana Air flights between 2:00pm to 4:00pm.

Seoul was as excited about the big match as Busan, with Gwanghwamun, Daehangno, COEX Square, Jamsil Stadium and Dongdaemun Stadium flooded with soccer fans. One, O In-bo said he left work early and came to Gwanghwamun because it was simply impossible to concentrate. Popular singers, Yundohyun Band and An Chi-hwan, wished for Team Korea’s victory at a pre-match concert at the traffic-free Daehangno at 5:00pm.

Restaurants and cafes are also celebrating the first game that Korea play; the Cake House 'Kwang' in Shinchon is serving soccer ball-shaped cakes to customers in the evening for free. Some 20 shop owners at Sundae Town specializing in traditional sausage dishes were dressed in red t-shirts, though Park Ok-hi, one of the proprietors, said, "business doesn't matter much on a day like this."

Even politicians who are normally engaged in cutthroat battles declared cease-fire for the day. President Kim Dae-jung and Polish counterpart Aleksander Kwasniewski will watch the Korea-Poland match together, while presidential candidate Lee Hoi-chang of the opposite Grand National Party turned into a "Red Devil" at Haeundae while Roh Mu-hyun of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party joined the cheering crowd at Busan Station. (Jeong U-sang, imagine@chosun.com )