Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae send autographed shirts to San Diego Padres

From left: Son Heung-min, Kim Ha-seong and Kim Min-jae

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Son Heung-min and Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae sent their own autographed shirts to the San Diego Padres players to wish them luck ahead of the 2024 Seoul Series on Wednesday.

The two Korean football players' shirts were placed on every seat in the Padres' clubhouse ahead of Wednesday's MLB season opener, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The two-game series between the Padres and the Dodgers is set to take place at Gocheok Sky Dome, with the first game starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and the second at the same time on Thursday. The Padres are home to Korean Gold Glove winning infielder Kim Ha-seong, with the two footballers presumably opting to throw their support behind a fellow Korean star.

Son and Kim Min-jae are also in Korea as they are set to play for the Korean football team in a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Thailand at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on Thursday evening.

"Given the timing overlap... Kim and Son aimed to align their support of fellow Korean star athlete Kim Ha-seong," the Padres were quoted as saying by Yonhap. "Every Padre player and manager Mike Shildt received both jerseys as a good luck gift for the series."

Kim Ha-seong and the Padres will finish their Asian stint on Thursday evening and fly back to the United States ahead of the domestic start to the 2024 season. Son and Kim Min-jae will be on international duty for a few more days, flying to Thailand for the second leg of the World Cup qualifiers next Tuesday.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN AND JIM BULLEY [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]