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Returned veteran midfielder Yeom Ki-hun sets Korea Cup record with 47th game at age 41

Published: 13 Mar. 2025, 15:16 Updated: 13 Mar. 2025, 16:18

PAIK JI-HWAN
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Suwon Samsung Bluewings interim manager Yeom Ki-hun speaks after drawing 0-0 with Gangwon FC at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Dec. 2, 2023. [NEWS1]

Yeom Ki-hun extended the all-time Korea Cup appearance record to 47 games over the weekend. The 41-year-old veteran midfielder retired two years ago, but somehow found his way onto the roster for K5 team Yangsan United.

Suwon Samsung Bluewings legend Yeom came out of retirement to play for K5 club Yangsan United in a Korea Cup match against K3 team Busan Transportation Corporation FC on Saturday for his record 47th appearance in the tournament.

The K5 is an amateur Korean football league that sits three spots below the second-tier professional K League 2.

The game ended with a 2-1 loss for Yangsan, but it was another milestone in years for a retired-Yeom, who was a manager at K League 2 club Bluewings until he resigned in May 2024.

Yeom reportedly joined Yangsan after its officials told him that he could “make good memories” at the K5 club.

Whether Yeom is able to pursue his career at Yangsan is unclear, as details of his contract have not been disclosed.

Yeom’s career dates all the way back to 2006, when he made his pro debut with K League team Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, where he won the AFC Champions League — now called the AFC Champions League Elite — in his debut season.

He later joined fellow K League club Ulsan Hyundai — now called Ulsan HD — in 2007, before going on to spend the majority of his career at the Bluewings from 2010 to 2023.

Suwon Samsung Bluewings midfielder Yeom Ki-hun, center, celebrates during a Korean FA Cup match against Hwaseong FC at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Oct. 2, 2019. [YONHAP]

Over a decade long spell at the Bluewings saw him winning the Korean FA Cup — now called Korea Cup — three times in 2010, 2016 and 2019, and amassing 70 goals and 95 assists across 420 K League appearances.

His performance during his glory days at the Bluewings also sent him to the national team.

After his first cap in 2006, he went on to feature in multiple international tournaments, including the 2007 AFC Asian Cup and 2010 World Cup.

He did not play as a regular pick after the 2010 World Cup, but still made caps from time to time until 2018.

Yeom’s playing career came to an end at the Bluewings in 2024 after he took the helm of the team as permanent manager, but he resigned after struggling to lead the team in the K League 2 where the club was vying for promotion to the top tier.

He took an assistant coaching role at the Indonesian national team later that year and held the job until January this year.

The K League legend did not take another coaching role after that, but he featured in the football reality series called “Shooting Star” on Korean streaming platform Coupang Play that aired from last November to January. The show pitted FC Shooting Star consisting of Yeom and fellow Korean football legends against eight teams from the semi-professional K4.

Yeom played 90-minute matches on the show, but he remembered that his return to the Korea Cup over the weekend felt more special, as he told the Korea Football Association media team that it gave him a different level of “nervousness and responsibilities.”

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]