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North Korean forward An Byong-jun calls it quits after five years in the South Korean league

Published: 10 Dec. 2024, 15:31 Updated: 10 Dec. 2024, 18:00

PAIK JI-HWAN
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Suwon FC forward An Byong-jun, left, celebrates scoring during a K League promotion-relegation playoff against Gyeongnam FC at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Nov. 29, 2020. [YONHAP]

Suwon FC forward An Byong-jun, the only North Korean footballer active in South Korea's K League 1, announced his retirement Monday.

“I am retiring as a footballer at the end of this season,” An said in a statement shared on his Instagram account on Monday. “I’ve judged that I can no longer play as my knee condition has exacerbated. It was not an easy decision, and it makes me sad, but I also feel a sense of freedom.”

An was born in Japan but holds a North Korean passport and has competed for the reclusive country. He started his pro career in Japan in 2013 and has played for multiple South Korean clubs including Busan IPark and Suwon since 2019.

He had a successful stint with Suwon in the 2019 season when he scored 20 goals in 25 games to lead his side to promotion to the first division, winning the K League 2 MVP title for the season in the process.

Suwon FC forward An Byong-jun, right, poses for a photo with K League President Kwon Oh-gap at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in central Seoul on Nov. 30, 2020. [NEWS1]

The forward also became the top scorer of the K League 2 in the 2021 season, during which he racked up 23 goals in 34 league matches for Busan IPark.

He represented North Korea at the U-17, U-23 and senior levels.

Although born in Japan, An is ethnically Korean but a perminent resident of Japan from a family that moved to the country during the colonial period. That legal status allows him to hold a North Korean passport but to work in South Korea.

An is not the only North Korean footballer to have played in South Korea.

Ri Yong-jik has played for FC Anyang since the start of the 2024 K League 2 campaign, and will immediately replace An as the K League 1's sole North Korean following his side's promotion last month. Jong Tae-se, who represented North Korea in the 2010 World Cup, played for then-K League 1 club Suwon Samsung Bluewings from 2013 to 2015.

North Korea has its own domestic football league, called the DPR Korea Football League, which supposedly has three divisions and a promotion-relegation system. It’s governed by the DPR Korea Football Association, a member of the AFC, but there are few public details available about the organization and it is unclear how many teams actually play in the league and how much, and if, players are paid.

Han Kwang-song, a prolific striker who made his professional debut in Italy and became the first North Korean to score in the top-tier Serie A, was forced to end his stint at Qatari club Al-Duhail in 2021 before the end of his contract because of UN sanctions that banned North Koreans from working overseas.

North Korea also appears in international football tournaments, although their men’s senior team’s has only reached the World Cup twice in 1966 and 2010, with a quarterfinal finish in 1966 remaining as their best result.

The reclusive country has competed in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, reaching the third qualifying round where the team has picked up two draws and four losses.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]