South Korea have confirmed Birmingham City‘s Paik Seung-ho can’t continue during this international break and will return to the Championship side to work on his recovery.
The midfielder previously had spells at Barcelona, Girona and Darmstadt 98 and moved to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in 2021.
He left Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors as a free agent and returned to Europe when Birmingham City signed him in January 2024.
The South Korea international has made 124 appearances for the Blues, managing seven goals and six assists.
He made 30 appearances for the national team since making his debut in 2019 and the majority of them came after he moved to St. Andrew’s.
Birmingham City player picks up injury
This season, he made 10 appearances for Chris Davies’ side, and the last was against Middlesbrough, before the international break.
Interim South Korea manager Robert Moreno called him up for the friendlies in September and October. Paik Seung-ho was an unused substitute in the 3-0 win over Ecuador last week.
On Monday, the Birmingham City player was out of the squad in the 4-1 friendly defeat to Uruguay because of an injury.
In his post-match press conference, Moreno confirmed two players left the national team, and Chosun Biz have relayed his comments. Paik Seung-ho and FC Midtjylland’s Cho Gue-sung are the duo.
“With two players dropping out, we’re now down to 28. Of course, I want to give every player a chance as much as possible. Right now, the coach and the players are in the process of getting to know each other,” he said.
NT confirms Birmingham City man’s withdrawal
Paik Seung-ho and Cho Gue-sung will miss the two friendlies against Venezuela and Uzbekistan during this break.
The South Korean football association have issued a statement about the Birmingham City midfielder’s injury.
“Following a meeting with the coaching staff and medical team, it was determined that Seung-ho needs to focus on recovery rather than playing in the remaining matches. To protect the player, he will be released from the squad today and return to his club,” a statement read.
The English club’s medical staff will inspect him upon his return to the UK. This should provide better clarity on the timeline for his recovery.
