The head of South Korea's football governing body said Wednesday it will recommend exemption of mandatory military duty for the players for advancing to the second round in an away World Cup finals for the first time.
South Korea reached the knockout stage after a tie with Nigeria on Tuesday that placed it second in Group B. The last time it advanced past the first round was at the tournament it co-hosted with Japan in 2002.
"What the players want is to be exempted from their military duties," Cho Chung-yun, chief of the Korea Football Association, told reporters after the Nigeria match. "They were exempted when they made it to the second round at home. It is much more difficult to achieve the feat (away from home)."
In South Korea, all able-bodied men above the age of 20 are required to serve in the armed forces for at least two years. Olympic medalists and gold medalists from Asian Games, however, are exempted.
In 2002, Seoul revised the law to also relieve national footballers from military service if their team reaches the second round of the World Cup. But the revision was dropped in 2007 after public sentiment turned negative.
One team official said that players "shouted in joy" in the locker room after being told by Cho that he will make the recommendation.
Team captain Park Ji-sung, who was exempted in 2002 when the team reached the semifinals, also argued that the players should be exempted in order to increase their career prospects and to ultimately raise the level of football in the country.
"I was exempted after the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup and was able to tap the European stage," Park said.
Park currently plays for Manchester United.
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