Paik Seung-ho joins K League’s Jeonbuk

SV Darmstadt 98’s Paik Seung-ho will join K League’s Jeonbuk. “We decided to recruit Paik who wishes to return to the K League so that he could continue on with his career in a situation where the player registration ends on Wednesday and it became difficult for him to join Suwon,” said Jeonbuk. The team confirmed that there would not be a registration issue through the K League. 　

Earlier this year, the former FC Barcelona youth player triggered a controversy by joining Jeonbuk without carrying out the agreements with Suwon. Baik played in the FC Barcelona with the support of Suwon when he played in Suwon’s youth team of Maetan middle school in 2010. He signed an agreement to join Suwon when he returns to the K League. But he decided to join Jeonbuk without Suwon’s agreement, for which Suwon notified their intention to take legal measures in condemnation. 　

“We thought it would be a bad precedent to the K League if a promising player cannot play on the ground and continue on with his career,” said Jeonbuk, explaining the reason behind the decision to recruit him. “It's something that the two parties should handle.” Suwon will take legal actions against Paik for violating the agreement and joining another team. 　

Jeonbuk, which won four K League titles for the first time last year, has an aging issue within the team, with main players in their 30s. It believes that Paik would lower the average age of mid-fielders and stir up the vigor of the whole team.


Dong-Wook Kim creating@donga.com