Korea's national football team said Thursday it has excluded Arsenal striker Park Chu-young from its list of 26 players for next month's final Asian qualification round for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

South Korea is set to face Qatar and Lebanon on June 8 and June 12, respectively.

South Korea's national football team also excluded Park from a friendly match with Spain, the No. 1 team in the FIFA rankings, at Stade de Suisse in Bern in Switzerland on May 30.

The move came amid a controversy over his decision to delay his military service.

Last year, South Korea's Military Manpower Administration permitted Park to put off his mandatory duty because he has a 10-year residency visa from Monaco. The 26-year-old had three seasons with AS Monaco in France before joining Arsenal in the English Premier League.

The news was made public in March, triggering a controversy in a country where all healthy men are conscripted to serve about two years in the military.

Still, head coach Choi Kang-hee said Park is a player who needs to play an active role on the national team, an indication that Park could play in other Asian qualification rounds scheduled later this year if the controversy is resolved.

Park was not immediately available for comment. (Yonhap)