A new history was made in men’s professional basketball by having two female referees in one game.
●At the time of Mobis and Jeonggwan Market, 2 out of 3 people were women.
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In the 2025-26 professional basketball game between Ulsan Hyundai Mobis and Anyang Jeonggwanjang held at Ulsan Dongcheon Gymnasium on the 17th, a unique situation was created in which two out of three referees were women. The main characters are Lee Ji-yeon (left, 43), who has been a referee for eight years in the Korea Basketball League (KBL), and Kim Soo-yeon (right, 30), who has been in her second year as a referee.
As a referee of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), this referee also boasts international experience, including refereeing the FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup and dispatching to the Vietnam Professional League playoffs. Referee Kim is a talent discovered through the KBL Referee Academy project and is currently working as a second assistant referee after one year of training. These two are the only women among the KBL referees this year.
According to KBL, there have been seasons in which two female referees have worked together, but this is the first time they have appeared in one game at the same time.
●KBL “Positive in terms of judgment accuracy and operation”
After the game that day, Jae-hak Yoo, head of the game headquarters, gave a positive evaluation, saying, “There was good chemistry in terms of accuracy of judgment and game management, and each player played his or her role well.” KBL’s position is that it will continue to assign referees based on comprehensive consideration of recent evaluation results and physical condition, rather than gender.
Referee Lee said on the 18th, “It was my first time being assigned to a group, so I felt new, but I thought of it as being assigned to one game and tried to play it like any other game.” Referee Kim said, “I believe that roles and responsibilities come before gender on the court,” and added, “I hope that this game will be an opportunity for games where two women are assigned to become a natural flow.”
Reporter Jaemin Ryu
2025-12-19 Page 26
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