Lee Dong-Kuk joins German 1st league

Can Korean soccer star Lee Dong-Kuk, 22, dubbed the Lion King, find success in the Bundesliga of Germany?

Lee signed a contract with Werder Bremen of Bundesliga¡¯s first league, on condition that he will play for the team for six months on lease for US$100,000 (about 130 million won) Thursday. Bremen also agreed to pay US$100,000 in charges for the lease to Lee¡¯s Pohang Steelers, making the total contract value US$200,000.

Lee and the German soccer club agreed to sign a full two-year contract if the team decides to do so after six months for US$1.5 million (about 1.9 billion won) in transfer fee and a yearly allowance of US$500,000 (650 million won).

Bremen and Lee signed the six-month contract because the soccer club wanted to watch the Korean player now recovering from injuries in the right knee.

However, Bremen, which conducted a precision examination of Lee has recognized Lee¡¯s potential, and is expected to sign a full contract after six months when he is certain to fully recover from the injuries.

¡°I had two weeks of rehabilitation training in Koeln and had recovered from the injuries by about 70 percent,¡± Lee said. ¡°I am aiming at playing in 10 of the remaining 16 games of the second half.

¡°Since I joined not a team of the second league but a club in the first league, I will do my utmost to join the best eleven.¡±