After playing the past three seasons in the second division of South Korean football, Busan IPark are poised for promotion to the top competition for 2024 with one final playoff match scheduled for the weekend. Busan will visit Suwon FC for the second leg of their K League promotion-relegation playoff at 2 p.m. Saturday at Suwon Stadium in Suwon, just south of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province. The winner will play in the K League 1 next year, and the loser will end up in the K League 2 in 2024. Busan

Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers has netted his eighth goal of the Premier League season, keeping pace with the league leaders in the scoring race. Hwang scored in the 42nd minute to help Wolves past Burnley 1-0 at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England, on Tuesday (local time). It snapped Wolves' two-match losing skid, as they improved to 18 points on five wins, three draws and seven losses. Hwang climbed into a three-way tie for fourth place in goals in the Premier League, jo

Ulsan Hyundai FC defender Kim Young-gwon was voted the most valuable player (MVP) in South Korean football's top division Monday, and to hear the man himself tell it, Kim almost didn't even make it this far into the season to grab that award. After accepting his K League 1 MVP trophy at an awards ceremony in Seoul, Kim revealed that he had a lucrative offer from a foreign club during this season. Ulsan head coach Hong Myung-bo convinced Kim to stay with Ulsan, and the center back helpe

Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur has grabbed sole possession of third place in the Premier League scoring race, with a goal against defending champions Manchester City in a 3-3 draw. The Spurs skipper, though, also scored one into his own net in this wild away match. Son opened the scoring after only six minutes at Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, on Sunday with his ninth goal of the campaign. In a counterattack opportunity, Son broke from inside his own half to take a long pass from Dej

Suwon Samsung Bluewings were relegated to the second division in South Korean football for the first time in their club history Saturday, following a goalless draw against Gangwon FC at home. Suwon Samsung finished the 2023 K League 1 season in last place with 33 points on eight wins, nine draws and 21 losses, and suffered direct relegation to the K League 2 for 2024. In order to avoid direct relegation, Suwon Samsung had to defeat Gangwon at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, just south of Seoul

The South Korea football governing body announced Tuesday forward Hwang Ui-jo will be banned from the national team until the conclusion of an ongoing police investigation into charges that he'd filmed a sexual encounter with a woman without consent. The Korea Football Association (KFA) reached the decision following a meeting of representatives from its ethics committee and national team technical committee earlier in the day. The KFA held the meeting after being criticized for putting Hwa

Terry Venables, the former manager of England's national soccer team and clubs including Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona, has died aged 80 after an illness, his family said on Sunday. "We are totally devastated by the loss of a wonderful husband and father who passed away peacefully yesterday after a long illness," the family said in a statement. (Reuters)

In a dramatic turn of events on the final day of the regular season, Gimcheon Sangmu FC earned a direct promotion to the top division in South Korean football on Sunday. Gimcheon defeated Seoul E-Land FC 1-0 to finish atop the K League 2 tables with 71 points and secure a spot in the top-flight K League 1 for 2024. Kim Hyeon-ug's 37th-minute goal stood as the winner. Gimcheon, a military club made up of players fulfilling their mandatory service duties, were relegated after the 2022 season

South Korea will play Japan, China and the United Arab Emirates in the Asian qualifiers for the 2024 Olympic men's football tournament next spring. South Korea will play out of Group B at the 2024 Asian Football Confederation U-23 Asian Cup, whose draw was held Thursday in Doha, the capital city of the tournament host, Qatar. There will be four groups of four countries. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage. The three best teams at the U-23 Asian Cup will punc

Jurgen Kinsmann, head coach of the South Korean men's national football team, said Wednesday he hopes China will release detained South Korean football player Son Jun-ho before Christmas, saying it was his "only one wish" for the holiday. Son, a national team veteran, was detained by Chinese authorities in May and was placed under formal arrest in June. Few details are known about the circumstances of Son's detention, with Chinese officials only saying he is facing bribery

Football player Song Ui-young grew up in South Korea hoping to one day play at Seoul World Cup Stadium, considered the mecca of football here. That dream will come true for the 30-year-old on Thursday, but with a twist. Song, who became naturalized as a Singaporean citizen in August 2021, will represent his adopted country against his native country in their World Cup qualifying match. "I dreamed of being here when I first started playing football as a kid. I am excited and nervous at t

With their Europe-based stars enjoying strong club seasons, South Korea will chase their fourth consecutive win under head coach Jurgen Klinsmann this week against Singapore in Seoul, as their qualifying campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins. It will be the first Group C match for both teams in the second round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers. The kickoff is at 8 p.m. Thursday at Seoul World Cup Stadium. South Korea will then travel to Shenzhen, China, to face China next Tuesday. South K

The agriculture ministry said Friday it has nearly completed nationwide cattle vaccination against lumpy skin disease, less than a month after the country reported its first-ever infection. The ministry has so far inoculated 99.9 percent of 4.05 million cattle in the country to protect them against LSD after launching the intensive vaccination campaign following its first-ever case of LSD reported on Oct. 20. South Korea plans to complete the vaccination on Friday. Authorities, meanwhile, plan t

History shows that the team that drops the opening game of the Korean Series, the South Korean baseball championship round, loses the series nearly 75 percent of the time. But there's no panic in the clubhouse for the LG Twins even after their 3-2 loss to the KT Wiz in Game 1 of the best-of-the-seven series Tuesday night, according to manager Youm Kyoung-youb. In his media scrum prior to Game 2 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on Wednesday, Youm said he told his players to stick to what they&

Bayern Munich's South Korean defender Kim Min-jae has captured an award for the top Asian player in foreign competitions. Kim was named the Asian Football Confederation Asian International Player of the Year at the AFC Annual Awards ceremony in Doha on Tuesday. Kim, who has split 2023 with Napoli in Italy and Bayern Munich in Germany, beat out Porto's Iranian forward Mehdi Taremi and Brighton & Hove Albion's Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma. Kim is the second South Korean to be so