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| 광주 박태준. Photo (Gwangju) = Yoon Jin-man Reporter Yoon Jin-man@sportschosun.com |
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| Director Lee Jung-hyo of Gwangju. Courtesy of Sajan = Korea Professional Football Federation |
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Gwangju midfielder Park Tae-joon (26) will postpone his enlistment for a while and fly to Saudi Arabia.
An official from the Gwangju club said on the 27th that `The Military Manpower Administration has approved Park Tae-joon's application to postpone his enlistment.' Park Tae-joon, who passed the 1st Armed Forces Sports Unit in 2025 and was scheduled to join the army on the 7th of next month, has reportedly postponed his enlistment date to June 2, about two months later. Gwangju coach Lee Jung-hyo, who has been forming a thin squad, took a breather with Park Tae-joon's joining.
The Gwangju club prepared to postpone Park Tae-joon's entry after securing the first K-League municipal team to advance to the quarterfinals with a miraculous upset victory in the second round of the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) round of 16 in the 2024-2025 season against Vissel Kobe (Japan) on the 12th. Park Tae-joon, who has played a role close to irreplaceable filling the vacancy of major midfielders who left the team, including Jung Ho-yeon (Minnesota) and Lee Hee-kyun (Ulsan), judged that it is an essential resource for the quarterfinals. Park Tae-joon, a former youth representative who joined Gwangju last year, started and replaced in the league this season, but started 10 games in the ACLE played by the team from September last year to the match against Kobe. With a wide range of activities, strong midfield pressure, and smooth linkage play, he led 'Asian sensation'Jeong Hyo Ball' In particular, in the second game against Kobe, he maintained a high energy level for 120 minutes, including overtime, supporting a great reversal. At the scene, evaluations poured out that `Park Tae-joon opened his eyes to soccer.'
After the second game against Kobe, Park Tae-joon said in an interview with Sports Chosun"I know that in the past, Seung-wook (Park) postponed his military." Since I made it to the quarterfinals, I want to go to Saudi Arabia and play with the best team," he said, expressing his strong will to play. Park Seung-wook (then Pohang, current Gimcheon) was scheduled to join the Korean Armed Forces Sports Unit on December 4, 2023, but the Military Manpower Administration postponed the enlistment date by two weeks in consideration of the ACL group stage and K-League playoff schedule.
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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The Military Manpower Administration will review the application if it submits an application for postponement of the military service execution date, saying that active duty soldiers cannot join the army on the date of enlistment designated for unavoidable reasons such as illness. You can apply five days before the date of enlistment. The Gwangju club submitted an application for 'postponement of enlistment date' to the local Military Manpower Administration due to the inevitability of using the main players after advancing to the ACLE quarterfinals, past cases, and national prestige enhancement, and judged that the relevant agency 'postponement of enlistment' is possible. As Park Tae-joon joined the army late, his discharge will be delayed.
Gwangju will play a single-round match against Al-Hilal (Saudi) in the ACLE quarterfinals at King Abdulla Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the 26th of next month. Alhilal is a team full of star players such as hoobang neves, Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, Malkong, João Cancelo and Kalidou Koulibaly. If they beat Al-Hilal in the quarterfinals, they will face the winner of the match between Al-Ahli (Saudi) and Buriram United (Thailand) in the semifinals. This ACLE will be held in Saudi Arabia from the quarterfinals to the final. The final will be held on May 4.
Gwangju, which has secured a total prize of 1.8 million dollars (about 2.6 billion won) by advancing to the ACLE quarterfinals, will receive an additional 600,000 dollars (about 870 million won) if it reaches the semifinals, and 10 million dollars (about 14.515 billion won) if it wins.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
