Lee Myung-jae joins Birmingham City on deadline day
Published: 04 Feb. 2025, 09:15
Updated: 04 Feb. 2025, 10:28
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- PAIK JI-HWAN
- [email protected]
![Birmingham City defender Lee Myung-jae, right, poses with Paik Seung-ho in a photo shared on the club's official Facebook page on Feb. 3. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/02/04/f8f36456-51b9-42f5-9605-d6ce12f0ace7.jpg)
Birmingham City defender Lee Myung-jae, right, poses with Paik Seung-ho in a photo shared on the club's official Facebook page on Feb. 3. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Birmingham City announced Monday that the League One club has signed former Ulsan HD fullback Lee Myung-jae.
The terms of Lee's contract with Birmingham have not been disclosed.
Lee joins Birmingham after being without a club since winning the 2024 K League 1 season with Ulsan in November last year. He will be playing alongside countryman Paik Seung-ho at Birmingham.
Birmingham is now home to five Korean players across the men and women’s teams. The women’s team has three Korean women’s national team regular picks: Cho So-hyun, Choe Yu-ri and Lee Geum-min.
Lee Myung-jae, 31, made his pro debut with Ulsan in 2014. Apart from a half-season loan spell at Japanese team Albirex Niigata in 2014 and one-and-a-half-year stint with military club Gimcheon Sangmu, where players complete their mandatory military service, from 2020 to 2021, he has spent his entire career with the reigning K League champions.
Known for his speed and accurate crosses, Lee played as a regular pick during Ulsan’s historic three straight league title run from 2022 to 2024. His notable performance in recent seasons allowed him to earn his first senior cap in a World Cup qualifier against Thailand last March. Since then, he has been a regular starter for the national team with seven caps under his belt.
Lee has the second half of the 2024-25 season to catch up with Brimingham. The club faced relegation down to third-tier League One last season, but they have been on a tear in the lower league, sitting four points clear at the top of the table as of press time Tuesday.
BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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