Son Heung-min is one of Tottenham Hotspur’s best players.
Son Heung-min is undoubtedly one of Tottenham Hotspur’s most important players this season.
It’s taken a while and the 25-year-old hasn’t always looked like a great signing following his £22 million switch from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015.
But with 11 goals for Tottenham so far this season, the South Korea international is on course to record his best-ever campaign in a Spurs shirt; not only in terms of numbers, but his standard of performance seems much higher and much more consistent this time around.
The fact that he is yet to complete the mandatory military service for his country has been in the back of people’s minds for a while and, speaking on Alan Brazil’s Sports Breakfast show on talkSPORT (broadcast January 22), Joey Barton has brought up the subject again.
He told talkSPORT: “I read a weird thing yesterday – don’t know whether you know this – but if South Korea don’t win a gold medal at the Asian games or the Olympics then Son has to go and do two years of military service because he’s been putting it off.
“He’s only a young boy and the only way to get out of it is if they’re successful with the South Korean national team.”
Under South Korean law, men are required to complete at least 21 months of military service before they turn 28, but certain sporting achievements are enough to grant them an exemption.
In theory, Son would not be required to proceed with the service if South Korea’s national team win a gold medal in this year’s Asian Games in Jakarta in September.
This, according to an article for Korea Times, also applies to the Olympics, but Son will already be 28 for the 2020 edition of the Games and therefore will be required to have started his military service.
With that in mind, it seems like success at the Asian Games could be Son’s last chance to free himself of the obligation.
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