Choi Jun (; born 17 April 1999) is a South Korean

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

currently playing as a full-back for

FC Seoul FC Seoul () is a South Korean professional Association football, football club based in Seoul that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of Football in South Korea, South Korean football. The club is owned by GS Sports, a subsidiary of GS G ...

and the

South Korea national team South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

. He is considered one of the most promising players of his generation in South Korea, regarding his versatility (mainly used as a right-back, he can also play as a left-back, a wing-back or a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

), his pace, his technique and his work rate.

Club career

The beginnings

A product of

K League 1 The K League 1 () is a professional association football league in South Korea and the highest level of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. It is one of the most successful leagues in the Asian Foo ...

Ulsan Hyundai Ulsan HD FC (), formerly Ulsan Hyundai FC, is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League in 198 ...

's academy, Choi played for

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

. In 2020 he was drafted by Ulsan, after his performances for the national youth teams gained the attention of scouts from several European clubs. He was unable to make his league debut due to the presence of veterans

Park Joo-ho Park Joo-ho (; or ; born 16 January 1987) is a South Korean former football player who usually played defender. A versatile player, he primarily played left-back but also in the midfield as a defensive or wide midfielder. Early life Park at ...

(on the left side) and Kim Tae-hwan (on the right) and the suspension of professional sports in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, he was loaned to

K League 2 The K League 2 () is the men's second-highest division of the South Korean football league system. It is contested between thirteen professional clubs and operates on a promotion and relegation system with K League 1. History In 2011, the or ...

side

Gyeongnam South Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple that ...

, where he consequently played his first professional season.

Gyeongnam

He made his professional debut on July 1, 2020, playing the entirety of a

Korean FA Cup The Korea Cup (), formerly the Korean FA Cup, is a national Association football, football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the competition was established in 1996, two simil ...

match against

Jeonnam Dragons The Jeonnam Dragons () are a South Korean professional football club based in the city of Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. The Dragons play their home matches at the G ...

, with his side eventually suffering a 4–0 away loss. Being at the start of his senior career, Choi initially had mixed fortunes in

Changwon Changwon (; ) is the capital and largest city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea (with a population of 1,025,702 ), and the 11th largest city of the South Korea, country. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south, and the ...

, registering two assists but also five yellow cards in his first ten matches with Gyeongnam. However, as the season progressed he was praised for showing a hard-working attitude and a good chemistry with his team-mates on the right wing (alternatively, Ko Kyung-min or

Negueba Guilherme Ferreira Pinto (born 7 April 1992), known as Guilherme Negueba or simply Negueba, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder for Thai club Lamphun Warriors Career Youth Negueba came very young to Fl ...

). On October 25, 2020, he registered his first goal ever, by netting the winner in a 4–3 away win against

Bucheon FC 1995 Bucheon Football Club 1995 () is a South Korean professional football club based in Bucheon, that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. The club was founded in 2007 by a group of former Bucheon SK supporters afte ...

. As Gyeongnam gained a spot in the promotion play-offs, Choi had the opportunity to take part in two more matches: a 1–1 draw against

Daejeon Hana Citizen Daejeon Hana Citizen FC () is a South Korean professional football team based in Daejeon, competing in K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. At the time of its foundation in 1997, Daejeon was the first community-owned club in South K ...

(Gyeongnam advanced to the following round due to a better placement in the regular league table) and the final against

Suwon FC Suwon FC (; Hanja: 水原 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Suwon, that competes in the K League 1, the South Korea's top professional league. They play their home games at Suwon Stadium. History Early years: semi-profes ...

. In this occasion, Choi scored the opening goal of the match, but then An Byong-jun equalized, scoring a penalty kick in the final moments of injury time and giving Suwon the promotion to

, again due to better placement. Choi closed his experience in Changwon having registered 20 league appearances and two goals.

Busan IPark

Once returned to Ulsan, Choi soon joined

Busan IPark Busan IPark FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in Busan that competes in K League 2, the second tier of the South Korean football pyramid. They play their home games at the Busan Gudeok Stadium. Busan IPark was founded as ...

(who had just been relegated in

) on a permanent basis, together with fellow team-mates Jung Hoon-sung and Lee Sang-heon, as part of the operation that brought Lee Dong-jun to the "Horangi".

FC Seoul

On 5 January 2024, Jun joined

International career

He has frequently represented South Korea at Under-19 and Under-20 level. In 2018, he took part both in the

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

, where the South Korean selection was eliminated in the group stage, and the AFC Under-19 Championship, where his side reached the final before losing 1–2 to eventual winners

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. In 2019, he was selected by head coach Chung Jung-yong to take part in the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, being one of the only two players in South Korea's 21-men list (together with Jeong Ho-jin) who hadn't started their senior career, yet. Used as a left-back, he played every match of his side, assisting

Oh Se-hun Oh Se-hun (; born April 12, 1994), known mononymously as Sehun, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, actor and dancer. He is a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy band Exo and its sub-unit Exo-SC. Apart from his group's activitie ...

's winner against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the round of 16 and scoring, in order, one penalty in South Korea's successful shoot-out against

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

(in the quarter-finals) and the only goal of the victory against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

in the semi-finals. As a result, he played a considerable role in the ''Taeguk Warriors''' road to the tournament's final, then lost to

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

with the score of 3–1.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

South Korea U19 *

AFC U-19 Championship The AFC U-20 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship, is a biennial international association football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-20 national teams ...

runner-up: 2018 South Korea U20 *

runner-up:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

South Korea U23 *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Individual * K League 2 Best XI:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Jun 1999 births Living people South Korean men's footballers Men's association football defenders Yonsei University alumni K League 2 players K League 1 players Ulsan HD FC players Gyeongnam FC players Busan IPark players FC Seoul players South Korea men's youth international footballers South Korea men's under-20 international footballers South Korea men's under-23 international footballers South Korea men's international footballers Footballers at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games footballers for South Korea Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games 21st-century South Korean sportsmen Asian Games gold medalists in football