The Tottenham Hotspur footballer Heung-min Son will start mandatory military service in South Korea this month, during which he will have to face several tests, especially physical ones.
Although Son was exempted from full service by winning the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games, he still has to complete four weeks of mandatory military training. He will start this month, taking advantage of the suspension of English football due to the coronavirus crisis.
The South Korean player will complete this service at the naval base on Jeju Island, where the Hallasan volcano is located.
According to the South Korean portal Naver, one of the first things Son will have to do is shave his head. The hair is stored in sealed bags so that, in case the soldier dies, it can be sent to the family.
As for the training, Son will face intense physical exercises, including hand-to-hand combat, learning to use weapons, crawling under barbed wire, as well as marches of up to seven kilometers carrying more than 24 kilos.
These situations may not be the most ideal for Son, who is recovering from a shoulder injury that required surgery and had kept him out of the game since before English football was suspended. EFE