Just 10 years ago, the thought of a South Korean soccer player getting an opportunity to play for a big club in one of Europe’s big leagues would have been one of the sports stories of the year.

Not anymore.

Ji Dong-won became the eighth South Korean to join an English Premier League club in late June as he signed for Sunderland. Ji’s transfer is symptomatic of a new trend that is a double-edged sword for the long-term health of soccer in South Korea, as the players, acting on their desire, leave for Europe at an increasingly early stage of their careers.

Manchester United’s Park Ji-sung spent two and a half seasons in Japan with Kyoto Purple Sanga and only moved to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, not one of the big five European leagues, after impressing in the 2002 World Cup as South Korea reached the semifinal.

Lee Young-pyo, who won the 2000 K-League title with Anyang, went with him. By the time Park signed for Manchester United in the summer of 2005 and Lee moved to Tottenham Hotspur, both had more than five seasons as professional players under their belts.

The next generation of Korean stars who headed overseas was younger than Park and Lee but still experienced. Park Chu-young in 2008, Lee Chung-yong in 2009 and Ki Sung-yong in 2010 had all spent more than two seasons as important members of K-League and were all established internationals by the time they left.

“For young Asian players, there is going to be a big cultural difference and it takes time to adjust to that,” said Lee Young-pyo in an interview. “The Dutch league is a very good stepping stone to learn and if you can do well there and adjust there, then you can go anywhere. The same thing with Park and me, we had some difficulties when we first went, but we overcame them and learned so much on the field and off it, too.”

However, the new generation of exports prefers to go straight to the big leagues, and when they are as young as possible. Just turned 20, Ji has barely played a full season at Chunnam Dragons in the K-League and is still not an automatic pick for the national team. Yet, he has moved to Sunderland in the English Premier League, the most popular league in the world, and made his debut against Liverpool on Saturday.

Another young star still to make the full transition to the national team is Yoon Bitgaram, who has just turned 21. Yoon has also spoken of his desire for a move to Europe.

“Ji Dong-won can be a success in the English Premier League,” said Lee Young-pyo. “But for me, the Netherlands is better for a young player. In England, the focus is on how to win. In the Netherlands, they teach you how to play football. This is the most important thing.”

Former professional player Tom Byer, the well-known founder of the largest chain of soccer schools for children in Japan, believes that the exodus may be good for national teams but is of questionable benefit for the domestic leagues.

“Although Korea and Japan are the best in Asia, the professional clubs still lack in development,” said Byer. “You can find many young players who are great technically but are not able to improve on other facets of their game because the coaching at the professional clubs lags behind Europe. It seems, though, that the national teams are benefiting by having their overseas players gain experience but the domestic leagues seem to be getting watered down.”

Compared to even five years ago in Korea, the exposure to various European leagues has grown dramatically. Young players these days spend their formative years watching the clubs that they aspire to join, and Byer understands the pull of the big leagues. (Yonhap News)











“In a perfect world, it would be great to see young players in Korea and Japan remain at their clubs, improve their game and strengthen the domestic league,” said Byer. “But it’s also the reality that these young players are growing up with satellite television and watching the best of the English Premier League, Serie A and La Liga every week. It’s only normal that they see heading to Europe as their stepping stone for realizing their dream, which is to play for the teams they have been watching since they were little kids.”

In a country that sees the overseas soccer section of giant Web portals such as Naver and Nate receive at least five times more traffic than the domestic soccer section, the departure of young talents makes it all the more difficult for the K-League to stay competitive and maintain its stature among the general public.

Baek Jung-hyun is the sports producer for KBS, Korea’s biggest broadcaster, and believes that an increasing number of departures make the league less attractive, which in turn can create a cycle that gives players less incentive to stay.

“As you can see in the professional basketball league in Korea there is no young star in the league. There are only old stars left behind such as Lee Sang-min who was voted the all-star for so many years. It ultimately cost the KBL heavily in terms of popularity.”

According to Baek, the two most popular players in the K-League are in their 30s.

“In the K-League, Lee Dong-guk is still the most popular player and the one who received the most media attention. Seol Ki-hyeon is another big name.”

“The presence of young, skillful players with potential like Ji and Yoon is important to maintain the popularity and media coverage of the K-League,” Baek said.

“You can see that pop culture in Korea depends on the generation between people in their mid-teens and mid-20s. That is why Girls’ Generation and 2PM are so popular,” he said, referring to two popular, teen-oriented pop groups.

“But from the players’ point of view, they must go abroad for their ambitions and the experience, and it could also prove to be very helpful to the national team as Lee Chung-yong and Ki Sung-yong have demonstrated. It’s a big dilemma.”

It is the success of those players that makes it easier for others to follow in their footsteps.

Amar Singh, associate editor of the United Kingdom edition of international soccer Web site Goal.com, believes that the exploits of young Korean players in the past have encouraged some clubs to be more open to young players from Asia.

“In many cases, Premier League clubs will monitor a young player but will only open their wallets for them once they have proven themselves against top opposition,” said Singh.

“They look for things such as experience in Europe or good performances against decent international opposition. There still remains a reluctance to move for Asian players ― many of whom are deemed unknown quantities ― unless they have established themselves in a decent European league such as the Eredivisie.”

“However, one notable exception is Lee Chung-yong, who came straight to Bolton from Seoul at the age of 20 and has proved a success.”

It leaves the K-League in a difficult situation although Kwon Sung-jin, the deputy general manager of the organization, prefers to look at the positive side of the equation.

“These players will always be K-League players, especially Ji,” said Kwon. “He has grown up and developed in the K-League’s youth system. We are just proud of him. We are not disappointed that he is leaving. We can try to produce better players.

“We are an international league and at the moment at least, it is fate to see young players want to leave for the big leagues. It’s our position at the moment. Think about it, where do the best Uzbek players play?” asked Kwon, referring to a number of Uzbek stars who play for K-League clubs.

Kwon also denies that the growing exodus of players diminishes the stature of the league and makes it more difficult for it to sell its product to South Korean sports fans.

“It doesn’t make it more difficult for us to market the K-League when these players leave, it just makes it different. Our product is the league and not the players. I like the fact that these days K-League players can go to big clubs or big leagues directly. It is a sign of our competitive league and our strength. Lee Chung-yong’s success has made other clubs confident in bringing players directly from the K-League.” 

(Yonhap News)