While preparing his players for the Tokyo Summer Games kicking off this month, Kim Hak-bum, head coach of the South Korean men's Olympic team, ran some grueling conditioning drills across two training camps over the past month or so. Kim wanted to ensure his players would be ready to battle in notoriously scorching and humid summer conditions in Japan.

Now that he has finalized his 18-man squad -- many of them having been whipped into shape by the coach -- Kim's focus will shift to more tangible, performance-related aspects of the preparation when the final training camp opens Friday.

At a press conference unveiling his roster on Wednesday, Kim said the players who made the cut have checked all the boxes when it comes to their endurance and willingness to sacrifice themselves for the team -- the two points of emphasis for Kim in June.

Kim's initial camp opened with 28 players on May 31, and two more joined them later in June. After two friendly matches against Ghana, Kim whittled down the list to 23 players for the next camp that opened on June 22. Then came Wednesday's announcement of 18 players, a group that includes three players over the Olympic tournament age limit of 24 -- forwards Hwang Ui-jo and Kwon Chang-hoon, and defender Kim Min-jae.

"Up to this point, I wanted to see how far I could push the players," Kim said. "Starting Friday, we'll start working on building team cohesion."

Specifically, Kim stressed the importance of set pieces, claiming that "more than 30 percent of the goals" come from such situations as free kicks and corners.

"We had (set pieces) in mind when selecting our players," Kim said. "We have three left-footed players, and we'll figure out ways to make the best use of them."

Kim was referring to midfielders Lee Kang-in and Lee Dong-gyeong, and forward Kwon Chang-hoon. All three have experience in taking corners or free kicks, with Lee Kang-in particularly famous for his ability to set up scoring opportunities in those situations.

Coach Kim also spoke about the need to shore up his defense, saying there is very little room for error in a short tournament such as the Olympics.

Centerback Lee Sang-min, longtime captain for the under-23 national team, was left off this time. Kim only said he didn't select Lee "for a number of reasons." Lee's frequent defense partner, Jeong Tae-wook, will take over as captain, and as the team's tallest player at 194 centimeters, Jeong will be tasked with controlling the aerial game, too.

South Korea will be in Group B at the Tokyo Olympics. They will play New Zealand on July 22, Romania on July 25 and Honduras on July 28. The top two teams from each of the four groups will reach the quarterfinals.

In preparation for the Olympics, South Korea will play two tuneup matches at home in July: on July 13 against a team to be determined and on July 16 against France at Seoul World Cup Stadium. Kim's squad will then fly to Japan on July 17. (Yonhap)