Advertisement

Heung-min Son to complete military service during Premier League shutdown, Tottenham confirm

Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I

Tottenham forward Heung-min Son will complete his mandatory four-week military service in South Korea during the Premier League shutdown, the club has announced.

Spurs gave Son permission to return to his homeland last month and he will begin conscription in late April after the Premier League was delayed indefinitely due to the coronavirus shutdown.

Son was given special exemption from South Korea's mandatory 21-month military service for all able-bodied males under the age of 28 when he captained his country to a Gold Medal in the Asian Games in September 2018 but he is still required to complete a shortened month-long assignment, originally scheduled for the summer break.

According to South Korean media, Son's could be deployed to the marines, which would mean a shorter service of just three weeks, and he is to begin basic training on April 20.

The 27-year-old arrived back in South Korea with his parents on the weekend of March 28-29 and is currently spending 14 days in quarantine as he continues to recover from a fractured right arm, which required surgery. It is the second spell of quarantine he has undertaken during the coronavirus crisis after spending two weeks in self-isolation on returning to the UK at the end of February, after he had travelled back to Seoul for surgery.

He broke his arm in an innocuous fall in the 3-2 win over Aston Villa on February 16 and underwent surgery in Seoul five days later with the same doctor who had operated on a similar injury suffered on international duty in June 2017.