Tae-seon Ahn

A prominent Korean player who has defeated Kurata 6-dan in the quarter final of Korea's Samsung cup. Kurata, who is referred to as "Japanese Ahn Tae-seon" in Korea, holds a particular grudge with him due to him (well-intentionedly and rather bluntly) asking Kurata if he had been in a slump after their game in the Samsung cup (and, true to his conceited nature, believes Ahn Tae-seon in turn should be known as the "Korean Kurata Atsushi"). In contrary, Ahn Tae-seon still maintains his amiable disposition and appears quite unaware of the sparks from Kurata. He's also noted to be exceedingly confident, believing in Korea's victory in the Hokuto cup even before the tournament begins and putting down the Japanese team as un-noteworthy, with the exception of Touya Akira. Later, Ahn Tae-seon made an appearance as the Korean team's manager in the Hokuto cup. He did not know of the misunderstanding between Hikaru and his charge Ko Yeong-ha about Shuusaku until too late (after Yeong-ha had insulted Shuusaku in public to spite Hikaru) and had to personally apologize for Yeong-ha's behavior. Although he initially looked down on the inexperienced Japanese team, he started to change opinions after witnessing their surprisingly high-level performances, in particular Shindo Hikaru's incredible match against Ko Yeong-ha and Touya Akira's victories against China's Lu Lee and Korea's Im Il-Hwan. This time, he disapproved of Yeong-ha putting down Hikaru's skills in a childish retort to Hikaru's disappointed dismissal of his loss.