Seoul searching~I
In an unexpected turn of political developments in South Korea, President Yoon Suk-yeol invoked emergency martial law on 3 December, the first time since 1979.
Tottenham Hotspur footballer Son Heung-Min has successfully completed a three-week basic military training course in his native country South Korea and has also earned an award for being one of the best performers among 157 trainees.
Heung-Min Son has now completed his military training in South Korea. He is due to return to London next week. Nice one Sonny 😁👏👍⚽️#COYS #THFC #Spurs #Tottenham #Sonny #SonHeungMin #HeungMinSon pic.twitter.com/o9f5Dalz1E
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— Chris Cowlin (@ChrisCowlin) May 8, 2020
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As per the laws, all able-bodied South Korean men are required to serve the country in military service, while gold medal-winning athletes in Asian Games and any Olympics medalists are provided exemptions and are obliged to serve three weeks’ training and over 500 hours of community service.
Son, who had led the football team of his country to gold in 2018 Asian Games with a 2-1 win over Japan in the final, will now have to undertake the community service spreading over the next 34 months.
The best Asian footballer, Son, had reported to the marine corps camp on the island of Jeju in April this year for the training which included lengthy hikes, as well as tear-gas training and rifle practice. The 27-year-old was judged as one of the five best recruits and was awarded the ‘Pilsung’ prize.
“He received the ‘Pilsung’ prize which is one of five types of awards for best performers,” South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted as saying a Marine Corps officer at the unit on the southern island of Jeju.
“All the courses were judged in a fair and strict manner, and his military training officers have said he went through the training faithfully,” the officer added.
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