South Korean midfielder Ki Sung-yueng will return to his Welsh club this month following the completion of his basic military training, his Seoul-based agency said Friday.
C2 Global said Ki will go back to the English Premier League club Swansea City and join their team training in Britain late this month. The 27-year-old completed the four-week basic military training in Busan last Friday and has been shaping up for the new season through personal training, the agency added.
In South Korea, male athletes who win a gold medal at the Asian Games or a medal of any color at the Olympics earn exemptions from mandatory military service. Such athletes only have to complete four weeks of basic training, whereas other healthy South Korean men must spend about two years in the armed forces.
Ki earned his military exemption as a member of the bronze-medal winning team at the 2012 London Games. The former Celtic and Sunderland player originally planned to receive his basic military training in late May, but because of two friendly matches against Spain and the Czech Republic in June, he postponed his enlistment and played both matches. He entered boot camp on June 13.
Swansea kicked off their preseason campaign in the United States earlier this month, with their training camp based in Washington. The club will return to Britain after playing a friendly against the Richmond Kickers, a third-tier U.S. club, in Virginia on Saturday.
Swansea have four friendlies scheduled after their return to Britain, with the first set against the Bristol Rovers at Memorial Stadium in Bristol on July 23. (Yonhap)
