- published: 17 Aug 2011
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Jong Tae-Se (romanization used by FIFA; hangul: 정대세; hanja: 鄭大世; also spelled as Chong Tese (鄭大世; チョン・テセ, Chon Tese) in Japan and Germany) born 2 March 1984 in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, is a North Korean footballer currently playing for Shimizu S-Pulse. He is a member of the North Korea national team. He was nicknamed "the People's Rooney" by the English press.
Jong was born in Nagoya, Japan to Korean parents residing in Japan. Although some reports indicate that Jong's parents and Jong himself have South Korean citizenship, Jong has said that he is not South Korean, but North Korean as his family identify themselves as North Koreans. His mother sent him to attend a private school in Japan run by Chongryon, a group closely tied to the North Korean government – where he started football at its elementary school club. He later attended Korea University, a private university in Tokyo also funded by Chongryon.
Chongryon, North Korea's de facto embassy in Japan, issued a North Korean passport to him. This made him eligible, per FIFA rules, to play for North Korea and resulted in de facto dual nationality.
Park Ji-sung (Hangul: 박지성; Hanja: 朴智星; Korean pronunciation: [pakt͈ɕisʰʌŋ]; born 25 February 1981) is a South Korean former footballer who currently serves as a club ambassador at Manchester United.
Born in Goheung, Jeollanam-do, he was the captain of the South Korean national team until his retirement from international football. Park is the most decorated Asian footballer in history, having won 19 trophies in his career and is the first Asian footballer to have won the UEFA Champions League trophy, the first Asian footballer to play in a UEFA Champions League Final, as well as the first Asian footballer to have won the FIFA Club World Cup. Park is able to play anywhere across the midfield and is noted for his exceptional fitness level, discipline, work ethic and off-the-ball movement. His remarkable endurance levels and pace earned him the nickname 'Three-Lungs' Park.
Park began his football career in his native South Korea and played for the Myongji University team before moving to Japan to play for Kyoto Purple Sanga. After Park's national team manager Guus Hiddink moved back to the Netherlands to manage PSV Eindhoven, Park followed him to the Dutch side a year later. After PSV reached the semi-finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Park's talents were recognised by Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and he signed Park for a fee of around £4 million in July 2005. In his time at Manchester United, Park won the Premier League four times and also won the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League and the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup. He moved to Queens Park Rangers in July 2012 after suffering a reduction in his number of appearances for Manchester United the previous season. However, an injury-interrupted season with QPR, combined with the club's relegation, led to Park rejoining PSV on loan for the 2013–14 season.