A notable Korean player defeated Kurata 6-dan in the quarterfinals of Korea's Samsung Cup. Kurata, known as "Japanese Ahn Tae-seon" in Korea, harbors a particular resentment towards him. This stems from an incident after their match in the Samsung Cup where he bluntly asked Kurata if he had been in a slump, which, given his self-assured nature, he believes should make Ahn Tae-seon known as the "Korean Kurata Atsushi." In contrast, Ahn Tae-seon remains amiable and seemingly oblivious to Kurata's animosity. He is also exceedingly confident, predicting Korea's victory in the Hokuto Cup even before it began and dismissing the Japanese team as unremarkable, except for Touya Akira.
Later, Ahn Tae-seon appeared as the Korean team's manager in the Hokuto Cup. He was unaware of the misunderstanding between Hikaru and his protégé Ko Yeong-ha regarding Shuusaku until after Yeong-ha had publicly insulted Shuusaku to spite Hikaru. As a result, he had to personally apologize for Yeong-ha's behavior. Initially, he looked down on the inexperienced Japanese team but changed his opinion after witnessing their high-level performances, particularly 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 belittling Hikaru's skills in a childish retort to Hikaru's disappointed dismissal of his loss.
