Busan Signs North Korean Star

North Korean national team member Ahn Young-hak (28, photo) has signed with the Korean pro league soccer team Busan I’Park.

“We reached an agreement with Ahn. Since his contract with J-League’s Nagoya Grampus expired, there was no trading fee involved,” a Busan official said yesterday. “We would like to keep the details of the contract from public.”

It is suspected that Busan offered Ahn an annual salary amount close to 300 million won.

Born and raised in Japan, Ahn played on the North Korean national team in the 2006 Germany World Cup preliminaries. Ahn’s handsome look has earned him the nickname: “the North Korean Ahn Jung-hwan.”

Ahn was picked as one of the J-League’s top 11 players in 2004 by the Japanese soccer magazine Soccer Digest. Standing 182cm tall and weighing 77kg, Ahn scored seven goals in 115 J-League games he played in as a midfielder. Playing as a North Korean national team member, he scored two goals in six A-matches against other national teams.

“It is a valuable experience playing soccer in a country where my grandfather was born (Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province). I have the impression that Korean soccer is physically tough. I can feel the pride and confidence from Korean players who made it into the semi-finals in the 2002 World Cup,” he said.

Won-Hong Lee bluesky@donga.com