Lee Jeong-hyeop (; or ; born 24 June 1991) 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 ...

who plays as striker for

Seongnam FC Seongnam Football Club () is a South Korean professional football (soccer), football club based in Seongnam that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. It is one of the most successful clubs in South Korea and the ...

in the

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 ...

Career

Lee Jung-hyeop 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 ...

in 2013 and made his debut on March 10 in a match against

Gyeongnam FC Gyeongnam FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in South Gyeongsang Province that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Its home stadium is the Changwon Football Center, located in Changwon ...

. On June 1, he scored his debut goal and a second goal in the same match, leading his team to a victory over

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Jeonbuk have won the K League a record nine times, including ...

. During his debut season, he appeared in 27 league matches, scoring 2 goals and providing 2 assists. Afterward, he changed his name from Lee Jeong-gi to Lee Jung-hyeop and, at the suggestion of manager

Yoon Sung-hyo Yoon Sung-Hyo (born 18 May 1962) is a South Korean football manager and former player. He is currently manager of Gimhae FC Gimhae FC 2008 () is a South Korean football club based in the city of Gimhae. that competes in the K3 League, the thi ...

, applied to join the military team

Sangju Sangmu FC Gimcheon Sangmu Football Club () is a South Korean professional football club based in Gimcheon that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Sangmu is the sports division of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. Sangmu' ...

, enlisting in November 2013. After completing his military service with

in October 2015, Lee returned to his original club, Busan, but only appeared in three matches due to injury. He was unable to participate in the promotion playoffs and could only watch as Busan was relegated. At the end of the 2015 season, Lee expressed a strong desire to continue playing in the

K League Classic 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 ...

, leading to a loan move to

Ulsan Hyundai FC Ulsan HD FC (), formerly Ulsan Hyundai FC, is a South Korean professional Association football, 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 ...

as part of a trade with

Lee Young-jae Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

. He scored his first goal for Ulsan on April 9, 2016, in a match against

Gwangju FC Gwangju FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in Gwangju that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. They joined the K League in the 2011 season. History Gwangju FC was founded in December 2010, b ...

and later scored a dramatic stoppage-time goal on September 21, 2016, in a match against

, securing a 2-1 comeback victory and confirming Ulsan's place in the top split. After the 2016 season, Lee returned to Busan following the expiration of his one-year loan with Ulsan. On March 4, he scored in the league opener against

and continued his scoring streak in all matches except the game 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 ...

, for which he was unavailable due to national team duties. On April 15, he scored in his sixth consecutive league match during a game 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 ...

, tying the record for most consecutive goals after a season opener set by

Adriano Adriano is the form of the Latin given name ''Hadrianus'' commonly used in the Italian language; the form Adrião can be used in the Portuguese language while the form Adrian is used in the English language. Notable people with the name include: ...

while playing for

Daejeon 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 ...

. A week later, on April 22, he broke Adriano's record by scoring the first goal in a match against

Daejeon Daejeon (; ) is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of nearly 1.5 million. Located in a central lowland valley between the Sobaek Mountains and the Geum River, the city is known both as a ...

. On January 22, 2018, it was officially announced that Lee had joined

Shonan Bellmare is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Hiratsuk ...

of the

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

on a one-year loan. Lee returned to Busan ahead of the 2019 season and scored two goals in a 5-2 victory against

Asan Mugunghwa FC Asan Mugunghwa Football Club () was a South Korean association football, football club based in Asan. The club's players were South Korean professional footballers who were serving their two-year military duty. History Founding and Police FC e ...

on April 13. He contributed 13 goals in 31 matches during the 2019 season, helping his team earn promotion. Lee remained with Busan for the 2020 season and scored his first goal of the season on May 24 in a match against

. Ahead of the 2021 season, Lee transferred to

. In the summer transfer window of the same year, he moved to

Gangwon FC Gangwon FC () is a South Korean football club based in Gangwon Province. They joined the K League as its 15th club for the 2009 season. The club is sponsored by High1 Resort. History Gangwon Province's governor Kim Jin-sun announced a sch ...

to strengthen their attacking options.

International career

In December 2014, Lee was surprisingly included in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

's squad for the

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 201 ...

as an uncapped player. He made his debut for the ''Taegeuk Warriors'' in a pre-tournament friendly against

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 ...

, scoring his first international goal as the Koreans ran out 2–0 winners. In South Korea's final group game, Lee scored the winning goal against tournament hosts

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

to secure first place in

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...

. On 26 January 2015, Lee scored the opening goal of South Korea's 2–0 semi-final defeat of

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

to put the nation into the Asian Cup final for the first time since

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

Career statistics

Club

''As of 19 March 2022''

International goals

: ''Results list South Korea's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

;Busan IPark *

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 ...

runner-up:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

;Sangju Sangmu *

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 ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

International

;South Korea *

EAFF East Asian Cup EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the East ...

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 ...

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

runner-up:

Individual

* K League 2 Best XI :

References

External links

* *
Lee Jeong-hyeop – National Team Stats
at KFA * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jeong-hyeop 1991 births Living people Men's association football forwards Footballers from Busan South Korean men's footballers South Korea men's international footballers Busan IPark players Gimcheon Sangmu FC players Ulsan HD FC players K League 1 players K League 2 players J1 League players Shonan Bellmare players Gyeongnam FC players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players 21st-century South Korean sportsmen