Jong Tae-se

In this Korean name, the family name is Jong.

Jong Tae-se, also known as Chong Tese (鄭大世; チョン・テセ, Korean: 정대세; born 2 March 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born in Japan, he represented the North Korea national team internationally, notably appearing at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He is one of few North Koreans who have played in the Japanese J-League and the German 2. Bundesliga.

Jong Tae-se
정대세 鄭大世
チョン・テセ

Jong in action with North Korea against Brazil at the 2010 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name	Jong Tae-se (South Korea) Jong Tae Se (North Korea)[1] Chong Tese (Japan)
Date of birth	(1984-03-02) 2 March 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth	Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1997–1999	Toshun Korean Middle School
1999–2002	Aichi Korean High School
2002–2005	Korea University (Korea)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2010	Kawasaki Frontale	112	(46)
2010–2012	VfL Bochum	39	(14)
2012–2013	1. FC Köln	10	(0)
2013–2015	Suwon Bluewings	72	(23)
2015–2020	Shimizu S-Pulse	106	(45)
2020	→ Albirex Niigata (loan)	26	(9)
2021–2022	Machida Zelvia	67	(11)
Total		432	(148)
International career
2007–2011	North Korea	33	(15)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl	정대세
Hancha	鄭大世
Revised Romanization	Jeong Dae-se
McCune–Reischauer	Chŏng Tae-se

Early life and nationality

Jong was born in Nagoya, Japan between a father who has South Korean citizenship and a mother who has Joseon citizenship, and became a South Korean national based on the father's family register at the time of birth.^[2]

His mother sent him to attend a private school in Japan run by Chongryon, a group closely tied to the North Korean government^[3] – where he started football at its elementary school club. He later attended Korea University, a private university in Tokyo also funded by Chongryon.^[3] Consequently, Jong has said that he and his family identify themselves as North Koreans.^[4] Chongryon, functioning as North Korea's de facto embassy in Japan, issued a North Korean passport to him. This made him eligible, per FIFA and AFC rules, to play for North Korea and resulted in de facto dual nationality.^[5]

Jong is fluent in Korean and Japanese. He also knows how to speak Portuguese which he learned from his Brazilian teammates at Japan's Kawasaki Frontale, and German from playing in Germany.^[6]

Jong publicly emphasized the separation between sportsmanship and politics after the disputes before and during the match between North Korea and Japan on 15 November 2011.^[7]

Club career

After joining Kawasaki Frontale in 2006, the striker quickly rose to become one of Kawasaki's best players and one of the best strikers in the J-League.^[8] Jong went for a trial with English club Blackburn Rovers in early 2010.^[8][9] After the 2010 World Cup, Jong joined German club VfL Bochum.^[10] After 1+1⁄2 seasons in the 2. Bundesliga, Jong transferred to 1. FC Köln in the Bundesliga in January 2012, following an injury to German international Lukas Podolski.^[11] However, his time at 1. FC Köln was marred by a lack of playing time.

On 3 January 2013, Jong announced that after he would start playing for the first-division South Korean K-League club, Suwon Samsung Bluewings. He had expressed interest in the move for several months before the announcement, and the Bluewings and Ulsan Hyundai FC had both been negotiating with him. Jong joined the South Korean outfit on 10 January 2013 for a reported fee of €300,000 from 1. FC Köln.^[12] After deliberation by K League 1 and FIFA authorities, Jong was registered as a South Korean (domestic) player in the K-League and AFC Champions League competitions.^[2]

On 6 April, he scored his debut goal for Suwon in a 3–1 home win against Daegu FC.^[13] Two weeks later, 20 April, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win at Daejeon Citizen.^[14]

On 8 July 2015, he was bought by Shimizu S-Pulse as an emergency signing as Shimizu were in the drop zone after total points calculation from both stages of the season. He was inserted into the starting lineup on 25 July, Matchday 4 of the 2nd stage, away to his former club Kawasaki Frontale which ended in a 3–2 defeat.

International career

Jong's first international appearance was on 19 June 2007, during a 2008 East Asian Football Championship qualifier match against Mongolia and he scored his first international goal in that game. He went on to score a total of four goals which Korea DPR won the match 7–0. Jong also played at the 2008 East Asian Football Championship and scored two goals in three matches for Korea DPR, receiving top scorer honors along with Park Chu-young, Yeom Ki-hun and Koji Yamase.

Before the FIFA 2010 World Cup Jong was also the key figure in Korea DPR's 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, as they qualified for the World Cup South Africa for the first time in 44 years. Jong had made himself famous for sobbing uncontrollably when the North Korean national anthem was played before the kickoff of Korea DPR's first group stage match at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, against Brazil.^[15] In that match he assisted Ji Yun-nam's goal in a 2–1 defeat.^[16][17]

Although nicknamed "the People's Rooney" by the English press,^[16] he likened his style of play to Didier Drogba.^[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 January 2021^[19][20][21]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Kawasaki Frontale	2006	J1 League	16	1	2	2	4	0	—		22	3
	2007		24	12	4	3	5	2	7	2	40	19
	2008		33	14	2	0	4	1	—		39	15
	2009		29	14	4	3	5	2	9	2	47	21
	2010		10	5	—		—		3	1	13	6
	Total		112	46	12	8	18	5	19	5	161	64
VfL Bochum	2010–11	2. Bundesliga	25	10	1	0	0	0	—		26	10
	2011–12		14	4	2	1	0	0	—		16	5
	Total		39	14	3	1	0	0	0	0	42	15
1. FC Köln	2011–12	Bundesliga	5	0	0	0	0	0	—		5	0
	2012–13	2. Bundesliga	5	0	1	0	0	0	—		6	0
	Total		10	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	2013	K League 1	23	10	0	0	—		—		23	10
	2014		28	7	0	0	—		—		28	7
	2015		21	6	0	0	—		—		21	6
	Total		72	23	0	0	0	0	0	0	72	23
Shimizu S-Pulse	2015	J1 League	13	4	0	0	—		—		13	4
	2016	J2 League	37	26	1	1	—		—		38	27
	2017	J1 League	23	10	1	0	2	0	—		26	10
	2018		18	3	2	0	6	3	—		26	6
	2019		13	2	1	0	5	0	—		19	2
	2020		2	0	2	0	0	0	—		4	0
	Total		106	45	7	1	13	3	0	0	126	49
Albirex Niigata	2020	J2 League	26	9	0	0	—		—		26	9
Machida Zelvia	2021	J2 League	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
Career total			365	137	23	10	31	8	19	5	438	160

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[22]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
North Korea	2007	3	8
	2008	10	3
	2009	7	1
	2010	5	3
	2011	8	0
Total		33	15

Scores and results list North Korea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Jong goal.

List of international goals scored by Jong Tae-se

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	19 June 2007	Macau Stadium, Macau	Mongolia	2–0	7–0	2008 East Asian Football Championship qualification
2				3–0
3				4–0
4				6–0
5	21 June 2007	Macau Stadium, Macau	Macau	2–0	7–1
6				3–0
7				5–0
8				6–1
9	17 February 2008	Olympic Sports Center, Chongqing	Japan	1–0	1–1	2008 East Asian Football Championship
10	20 February 2008	Olympic Sports Center, Chongqing, China	South Korea	1–1	1–1
11	15 October 2008	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	Iran	1–2	1–2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
12	27 August 2009	World Games Stadium, Kaohsiung, Taiwan	Chinese Taipei	1–0	2–1	2010 East Asian Football Championship qualification
13	25 May 2010	Cashpoint-Arena, Altach, Austria	Greece	1–1	2–2	Friendly
14				2–2
15	6 June 2010	Makhulong Stadium, Thembisa, South Africa	Nigeria	1–2	1–3

References

1. http://img.etoday.co.kr/pto_db/2012/06/20120605071547_203586_500_558.jpg. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. ＜サッカー＞"人民ルーニー"鄭大世、韓国国籍でＣＬ出場 (in Japanese). japanese.joins.com. 1 February 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
3. "North Korea's Wayne Rooney". New York Times. 11 February 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
4. "Jong Tae-se is North Korea's answer to Wayne Rooney". The Guardian. 11 February 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
5. AFC 정대세 이중국적 허용, ACL 출전 길 열렸다
6. "Jong Tae-Se habla portugues y promete lucha a Brasil en el mundial 2010.flv". maurimc. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
7. Lee (이), Ji-ho (지호) (18 November 2011). 정대세, "北, 정치와 스포츠 구분해야". JPNews (in Korean). Retrieved 19 November 2011.
8. Duerden, John (30 May 2010). "Jong Tae-se is North Korea's answer to Wayne Rooney". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
9. Wilson, Zack (16 June 2010). "Introducing the crying North Korean, the 'Peoples' Rooney', the Blackburn nearly-man: Jong Tae-se". Goal.com. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
10. "Bochum holt Jong Tae Se, neuer Gerichtstermin für Boateng" (in German). Spiegel Online. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
11. "Chong Tese springt für Podolski ein" [Jong Tae-Se jumps in for Podolski] (in German). kicker. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
12. "Jong Tae-Se Joins Suwon Bluewings from FC koln". givemegoal.com. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
13. '첫 승 실패' 서울, 5G 무승, 포항은 5G 무패... 정대세 첫 골(종합) [The first goal of Jung Tae Sea] (in Korean). Osen. 6 April 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
14. [클래식 8R] '정대세 해트트릭' 수원, 대전에 4-1 역전승 [[Classic round 8]' Jong Tae-se scored a hat-trick' Suwon wins a come-from-behind victory] (in Korean). sports.news.naver.com. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
15. Anglesey, Steve (26 May 2010). "Weird World Cup: 10 amazing facts about North Korea". The Mirror. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
16. Ingle, Sean (1 June 2010). "World Cup 2010: Brazil find finishing touch to edge out North Korea". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
17. Bairner, Robin (1 June 2010). "World Cup 2010 Player Ratings: Brazil 2–1 North Korea". goal.com. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
18. Montague, James (15 June 2010). "The secret machine: Inside North Korea's World Cup squad". CNN. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
19. Jong Tae-se at Soccerway
20. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK), 7 February 2018, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411529 (p. 113 out of 289).
21. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, 2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK), 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 137 out of 289).
22. "Tae-Se Jong". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 31 May 2011.

External links

• Profile at Instagram
• Jong Tae-se at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
• Jong Tae-se – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)
• Jong Tae-se – FIFA competition record (archived)
• FIFA.com – Jong straddles the 38th parallel
• Jong Tae-Se's blog (in Japanese)
• "A World of opportunity awaits Jong", ESPN, 3 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine (archived 21 October 2012)
• Bend it like Jong – Japan on YouTube, from Journeyman Pictures, 19 July 2010