Lee Chun-soo

In this Korean name, the family name is Lee.

Lee Chun-soo (Korean: 이천수; born 9 July 1981) is a South Korean retired football player. He played as a forward for the South Korea national team at the 2002 and 2006 editions of the FIFA World Cup. Early in his career he was regarded as one of the most talented forwards to have emerged from South Korea.^[2]

Lee Chun-soo

Lee with Incheon United in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Lee Chun-soo
Date of birth	(1981-07-09) 9 July 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth	Incheon, South Korea
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1994–1996	Bupyeongdong Middle School
1997–1999	Bupyeong High School
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2000–2001	Korea University
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2003	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	36	(15)
2003–2005	Real Sociedad	13	(0)
2004–2005	→ Numancia (loan)	15	(0)
2005–2007	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	48	(17)
2007–2009	Feyenoord	12	(0)
2008	→ Suwon Samsung Bluewings (loan)	3	(0)
2009	→ Jeonnam Dragons (loan)	7	(4)
2009–2010	Al-Nassr	16	(3)
2010–2011	Omiya Ardija	43	(8)
2013–2015	Incheon United	67	(5)
Total		260	(52)
International career
1999–2000	South Korea U20	14	(20)
1999–2006	South Korea U23	28[α]	(11)
2000–2008	South Korea	78	(10)
Medal record Representing  South Korea Men's football AFC Asian Cup 2007 Indonesia/Malaysia /Thailand/Vietnam Team Asian Games 2002 Busan Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lee Chun-soo
Hangul	이천수
Hanja	李天秀
Revised Romanization	I Cheon-su
McCune–Reischauer	I Ch'ŏnsu

Club career

Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i

Lee recorded seven goals and nine assists during 18 appearances in the 2002 K League, showing his talent in his first professional season.^[3] After becoming a World Cup semi-finalist and the top assist provider of the K League at the age of 19, he was named the Asian Young Footballer of the Year by the Asian Football Confederation.^[4]

In July 2003, he joined Real Sociedad, the runners-up of the 2002–03 La Liga, becoming the first Korean to play in La Liga. However, after a mediocre season, he was loaned out to fellow La Liga side Numancia, and ultimately returned to South Korea. He was unable to score in the La Liga in his two years there.^[5]

Lee rejoined Ulsan in mid-season. He especially scored a hat trick in the first leg of the championship final.^[6] He was subsequently named the K League's Most Valuable Player.^[7]

The next year, he scored a hat-trick against Gamba Osaka at the A3 Champions Cup.^[8]

Feyenoord

In the summer of 2008, Lee joined Feyenoord of the Eredivisie. He got the second chance to play in Europe, but failed to adapt to the Netherlands. While he competed in Feyenoord, he was scammed in his country, and took a two-week vacation to solve the problem.^[9] He had difficulty concentrating on football due to his case of fraud, and Feyenoord officially announced Lee's loan to South Korean team Suwon Samsung Bluewings on a one-year deal in July 2008.

Loan spells

Even in Suwon, his stint was ill-received: he performed poorly, had clashes with the coaching staff, and was banished from the K League. After a few months, Suwon released him from the banishment, and he could be loaned to Jeonnam Dragons on 26 February 2009.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2009, he claimed he couldn't reject his transfer according to his contract with Feyenoord if another club suggest a high salary to him, and he joined a Saudi club Al-Nassr in the middle of the season. However, the dual contract did not exist in reality, and he was prohibited from joining the K League again after Jeonnam got to know the truth.^[10]

Incheon United

In March 2010, he left Al-Nassr because the club did not give his wages for three months.^[11] He joined a J1 League club Omiya Ardija, and played in Japan for a year and a half.

After leaving Omiya Ardija, Lee did not join any foreign professional club for a year, and hoped to play in South Korea. Jeonnam Dragons released his indefinite banishment after watching his behavior including three apologies at the stadium.^[12] On 31 March 2013, he came back to the K League with Incheon United in a game against Daejeon Citizen 1,381 days after the last game with Jeonnam.^[13]

On 5 November 2015, he announced his retirement as a player. His retirement ceremony was held at half time of a World Cup qualifier between South Korea and Lebanon in March 2016.^[14]

International career

In 1999, Lee was selected for the South Korean under-20 team, participating in the Bangabandhu Cup. He scored five goals against Thailand in his debut game,^[15] and also scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Brazil.

Lee was also a member of the South Korean under-23 team in the 2000 Summer Olympics. In a group match against Morocco, he almost missed a crucial penalty, but succeeded in scoring from the rebound.^[16]

In the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in his country, Lee was a substitute of the South Korean national team, but showed good dribbles and defense when appearing.^[17] After main players were injured, Lee got an opportunity as a starter in the semi-finals against Germany. In this game, however, he was criticised for displaying a greediness for goal with little regard for teamwork, although he made a memorable shot saved by Oliver Kahn.^[17]

Unlike in the 2002 World Cup, Lee played as a starter in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He scored South Korea's first goal with a free kick against Togo in a 2–1 win.^[18]

After retirement

In 2005, he took a special seminar at Goyang Baekyang Middle School with Chung Mong-joon, president of the Korea Football Association.^[19]

In June 2014, he starred in an SNL Korea episode, when he played a parody of the game Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 called "GTA Winner Eleven 2014" alongside Kim Min-kyo.^[20]

On November 5, 2015, when he was about to retire from active duty, he appeared on JTBC Newsroom. During the broadcast, Lee confessed that he intentionally hit Paolo Maldini in the head during the 2002 FIFA World Cup against Italy.^[21]

In December 2015, he appeared on the King of Mask Singer in Episode 38 as (with the stage name "Know Thyself Socrates") show and displayed his singing skills.^[22]

As of March 2016, he is a commentator for JTBC3 Fox Sports.^[23]

In 2019, He was appointed as the head of strength and conditioning for his hometown team Incheon United ahead of the 2019 season,^[24] but resigned from the position in August 2020.^[25]

In January 2021, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Social Contribution Committee of the Korea Football Association.^[26]

In June 2021, Lee signed a contract with DH Entertainment.^[27]

In October 2024, he participated in the Nexon Icon Match in Korea as a striker team.^[28]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[1][3]

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	2002	K League	18	7	3	2	0	0	—		21	9
	2003	K League	18	8	0	0	—		—		18	8
	Total		36	15	3	2	0	0	—		39	17
Real Sociedad	2003–04	La Liga	13	0	2	0	—		6	0	21	0
Numancia (loan)	2004–05	La Liga	15	0	1	0	—		—		16	0
Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	2005	K League	14	7	1	0	0	0	—		15	7
	2006	K League	18	5	0	0	6	2	6	3	30	10
	2007	K League	16	5	1	0	10	2	—		27	7
	Total		48	17	2	0	16	4	6	3	72	24
Feyenoord	2007–08	Eredivisie	12	0	2	0	—		—		14	0
Suwon Samsung Bluewings (loan)	2008	K League	3	0	0	0	1	1	—		4	1
Jeonnam Dragons (loan)	2009	K League	7	4	1	0	1	0	—		9	4
Al-Nassr	2009–10	Saudi Pro League	16	3	0	0	0	0	—		16	3
Omiya Ardija	2010	J1 League	16	2	2	2	0	0	—		18	4
	2011	J1 League	27	6	1	0	0	0	—		28	6
	Total		43	8	3	2	16	4	6	3	46	10
Incheon United	2013	K League 1	19	2	1	0	—		—		20	2
	2014	K League 1	28	1	0	0	—		—		28	1
	2015	K League 1	20	2	0	0	—		—		20	2
	Total		67	5	1	0	—		—		68	5
Career total			260	52	15	4	18	5	12	3	305	64

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[29]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
South Korea	2000	9	2
	2001	7	1
	2002	16	1
	2003	6	0
	2004	4	1
	2005	8	0
	2006	17	3
	2007	10	2
	2008	1	0
Career total		78	10

Results list South Korea's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Lee Chun-soo

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 April 2000	Seoul, South Korea	1	Laos	3–0	9–0	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2	7 April 2000	Seoul, South Korea	2	Mongolia	5–0	6–0	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
3	13 September 2001	Daejeon, South Korea	11	Nigeria	1–2	2–2	Friendly
4	16 May 2002	Busan, South Korea	23	Scotland	1–0	4–1	Friendly
5	8 September 2004	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	40	Vietnam	2–1	2–1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	29 January 2006	Hong Kong	54	Croatia	2–0	2–0	2006 Lunar New Year Cup
7	22 February 2006	Aleppo, Syria	58	Syria	2–1	2–1	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
8	13 June 2006	Frankfurt, Germany	63	Togo	1–1	2–1	2006 FIFA World Cup
9	6 February 2007	London, England	68	Greece	1–0	1–0	Friendly
10	29 June 2007	Seogwipo, South Korea	71	Iraq	2–0	3–0	Friendly

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Note(s)	Ref.
2017	Society Game	Himself
2021	Golden Eleven 2	Himself		[30]
2021	Brad PT & GYM Carry	Himself		[31]
2022–present	Mr. House Husband 2	Himself		[32]
2022	Gundesliga	Himself		[33]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2021	Ssangssang Invitational	Himself	[34]

Honours

Player

Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i

• K League 1: 2005^[35]
• Korean League Cup: 2007^[36]
• Korean Super Cup: 2006^[36]
• A3 Champions Cup: 2006^[37]

Feyenoord

• KNVB Cup: 2007–08^[38]

Suwon Samsung Bluewings

• K League 1: 2008^[35]
• Korean League Cup: 2008^[36]

Incheon United

• Korean FA Cup runner-up: 2015^[36]

South Korea U23

• Asian Games bronze medal: 2002^[39]

South Korea

• AFC Asian Cup third place: 2007^[40]

Individual

• K League All-Star: 2002, 2006, 2007, 2013^{[41][42][43][44]}
• K League 1 top assist provider: 2002^[45]
• K League Rookie of the Year: 2002^[46]
• K League 1 Best XI: 2002, 2005^[46][7]
• AFC Youth Player of the Year: 2002^[4]
• K League 1 Most Valuable Player: 2005^[7]
• A3 Champions Cup Most Valuable Player: 2006^[47]
• A3 Champions Cup top goalscorer: 2006^[48]
• AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament: 2007^[49]
• Korean FA Goal of the Year: 2007^[50]

Television personality

List of awards and nominations received by TV personality Lee Chun-soo

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
KBS Entertainment Awards	2022	Top Excellence Award in Reality Category	Mr. House Husband 2	Won	[51]

Notes

1. Includes six appearances and one goal as an overage player in Asian Games.