Lee Chun-soo accused of assault

South Korean soccer player Lee Chun-soo is suspected of assaulting a man at a bar and will be summoned for questioning later this week, Incheon Namdong Police Station said Monday.

According to police officials, Lee got into a quarrel with a 30-year-old man surnamed Kim at 12:45 a.m. Monday at a bar in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul. Lee allegedly slapped Kim twice in the face and threw a bottle of beer at a table.

The alleged victim said that he and Lee’s party ― Lee, his wife and two of his acquaintances ― were sharing a table when he told Lee that he was a “long-time fan.” Lee apparently took Kim’s attention to be poking fun at the player’s troublesome past and “swept the table” of some 20 bottles of alcohol, Kim told police.

Lee’s team, Incheon United FC of the country’s top soccer league, said that the player admitted having a row with Kim but denied battery charges.

“Would I use violence with my wife sitting right there?” Lee told the team.

“The team will first figure out the facts (about the incident), and then will have a talk with Lee on how to handle this situation,” Incheon manager Kim Bong-Gil said.

The 32-year-old forward and former player of the South Korean national team has a long-standing reputation for getting into trouble.

In 2007, he was sued for hitting an owner of a bar in Seoul. Two years later, he got into a brawl with a coach of his former team Chunnam Dragons. During a 2009 match, he made an obscene gesture toward a referee while protesting an offside call.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)