Bolton Wanderers’ midfielder Lee Chung-yong was voted the top South Korean footballer of 2013 in a national survey released on Thursday.

The Korea Football Association said Lee drew 1,369 out of 2,776 votes cast by fans in its annual survey.

Playing for the second-division English side, Lee has made a successful comeback after suffering a career-threatening leg injury before the 2011-12 season.

Lee has also been a pillar in the South Korean midfield during the country’s run through the Asian qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The 25-year-old is fully expected to represent the country in Brazil, where South Korea will face Belgium, Russia and Algeria in the group stage.

Son Heung-min, a dynamic scorer for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, finished second in the survey with 810 votes.

He became the first South Korean to score a hat-trick in a major European league, picking up three goals against his former team, Hamburger SV, in November.

Kim Shin-wook, the reigning MVP in the domestic K League Classic, was third with 302 votes. The lanky striker, who had 19 goals in 36 league matches, has also emerged as a strong candidate to be the front-line scorer for South Korea at next year’s World Cup. (Yonhap News)