Chang-Hoon Kwon (27) did not leave SC Freiburg in the summer for sporting reasons. He had a plan to combine a professional career with military service. That plan is now working out.
If a player feels comfortable at a club and the club wants to continue working with the player, the consequence is usually clear: the contract is extended when it would otherwise expire. In the case of Chang-Hoon Kwon and SC Freiburg, however, things went differently last summer.
The Breisgauer let the South Korean leave with a heavy heart. “That hurts,” said coach Christian Streich at the time. Kwon left the Sport-Club because his military service was due back home. The most attractive way for South Korean professional footballers in this case: combine compulsory military service and competitive sport.
This is only possible with a club, or more precisely, a military club. Gimcheon Sangmu was recently relegated to the first division, and its squad consists of one hundred percent loan players. Between 300 and 400 euros salary is earned by professionals who are normally used to thousands upon thousands or millions during their time at Sangmu.
Regulations made a diversion necessary
There, military service and professional football can be completed in parallel, and the training lasts about one and a half years. But before Kwon could be signed by Gimcheon, he had to have played in a Korean professional league for half a year, according to the regulations. So Kwon developed a plan that was as permissible as it was clean.
He spent the second half of the 2021 calendar year in Suwon with the Blue Wings, scoring one goal in eleven appearances. He then wanted to move to the military club for the new 2022 season, by which time they should ideally have been promoted again.
After a stuttering start, Gimcheon was able to achieve direct promotion, and now it is clear that part two of the plan is also working. At the end of December, Gimcheon announced the additions, who will receive a loan contract until the end of June 2023. Ji-Hyeon Kim (25, Ulsan Hyundai), Yoon-Sung Kang (24, Jeju United), Yeong-Jae Lee (27, Suwon FC) – and Kwon. At the end of his military service, the attacking midfielder will be 29 years old. Should he make a splash in K League 1 by then, there would be nothing to stop him from returning to Europe.
