Well, I agree 100%. I might be biased though, because he is my favorite character (other than Sae-byeok). And he surely doesn't deserve all the hate.

But I don't think this opinion is so unpopular. Even some cast members mentioned that Sang-woo is also their favorite and the most realistic character too.

I think he is so hated because he caused the death of Ali (a fan-favorite character) and killed Kang Sae-byeok (another fan-favorite character). Also, another reason why he is hated is because viewers feel betrayed by him because they expected him to be one of the "good guys" and when he shows a ruthless nature, he gets judged more harshly than the organisers of the games.

Personally, I never hated him and I don't even see him as a villain because all of his actions were for survival in life and death games. If anything, the people who created the games are much more responsible for this even if they get a lot less hate.

I've never seen anybody who hates him (in a writing sense)

I'm somewhere in between with Sang-woo in my opinion, a neutral one.

However, I could at least show some recognition to the guy at least, I mean, killing two fan-favorites were necessary for him to proceed and get the money he needed for his mother.

I'll admit, his fight with Gi-hun was kinda intense and badass.

He's very well written no doubt about it, the only people who hate him, only do so because because he got Ali killed. Even then, those games were a case of life or death, so resorting to such means is unfortunately more realistic in such a scenario. I'm with JacobKyleF here, my opinion on him is neutral.

Cho Sang-woo Did Nothing Wrong.