(2nd LD) Yoon awards Son Heung-min with highest nat'l honor for sports

김덕현 / 2022-06-02 22:22:01

(2nd LD) Yoon-football player

▲ President Yoon Suk-yeol (L) shakes hands with Son Heung-min, captain of the South Korean men's national football team, after awarding Son with the Cheongnyong Medal, the highest order of merit given to an individual for achievement in sports, prior to South Korea's friendly match against Brazil at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul on June 2, 2022. (Yonhap)

▲ President Yoon Suk-yeol (L) and Son Heung-min, captain of the South Korean men's national football team, pose for photos after Yoon awarded Son with the Cheongnyong Medal, the highest order of merit given to an individual for achievement in sports, prior to South Korea's friendly match against Brazil at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul on June 2, 2022. (Yonhap)

▲ South Korean captain Son Heung-min (C) trains at the National Football Center in Paju, some 30 kilometers north of Seoul, on June 1, 2022, one day ahead of his team's match against Brazil at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) Yoon-football player

(2nd LD) Yoon awards Son Heung-min with highest nat'l honor for sports

(ATTN: ADDS details in last 4 paras)

SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol awarded an order of merit to Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean forward Son Heung-min on Thursday in recognition of his achievement in sports.

Yoon awarded the Cheongnyong Medal to Son at Seoul World Cup Stadium before he took part in a friendly match against Brazil.

The Cheongnyong ranks the highest among five medals that are awarded to an individual for their achievement in sports or their contribution to promoting national sports.

Son made history last month by becoming the first Asian player to win the scoring title in the Premier League.

"I believe this award is the result of your passion after having devoted yourself and worked endlessly for your team all season," Yoon wrote in a message to Son at the time. "(The title) is not only a personal honor for you but a joyous occasion to be celebrated by the entire Asian football community."

Later in the day, Yoon held a dinner meeting with the Dutch-born coach Guus Hiddink, who guided South Korea through an improbable march to the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup two decades ago, and members of the South Korean men's national football team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

During the meeting, Lee Young-pyo, one of the members of the 2002 men's national football team, proposed to Yoon that South Korea should host the 2023 Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup.

In return, Yoon instructed Park Bo-gyoon, minister of culture and sports who was also in attendance at the meeting, to actively push for hosting the 2023 Asian Cup, Yoon's office said.

China pulled out of hosting the 2023 Asian Cup due to its COVID-19 situation.

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