After an altercation with his son, PSG’s Lee Kang-in is included in South Korea’s World Cup qualifying squad

Notwithstanding an altercation with captain Son Heung-min during the Asian Cup, Lee Kang-in was included in South Korea’s roster on Monday for this month’s World Cup qualifiers.

Before South Korea’s semi-final defeat to Jordan last month, Tottenham star Son collided with Paris Saint-Germain forward Lee, resulting in a dislocated finger.

Following reports from Yonhap news agency that the 23-year-old had attempted to hit Son, Lee later issued an apology. Representatives for Lee have refuted reports of a punch.

Son subsequently shared a photo of the couple on social media, looking happy and holding hands, along with a request for South Korean followers to forgive Lee.

After South Korea’s Asian Cup exit, Jurgen Klinsmann was fired, and Hwang Sun-hong, the country’s new interim coach, said that he had met with both players before selecting his team.

“Lee Kang-in expressed his sincere desire to apologize to supporters and his teammates, and Son Heung-min suggested that we should all accept Kang-in and proceed,” Yonhap cited Hwang as saying.

He went on, “I don’t think this is a problem between the two of them.”

“Everyone who was there, including the coaches, players, and support personnel, ought to accept accountability.

“We all need to be ready to make amends in front of our supporters during the next two games against Thailand.”

Lee and the other younger players are said to have started the argument by hurrying through supper so they could go out early and play table tennis.

This infuriated some of the more senior players, such as Son, who wanted to uphold the long-standing custom of using the pre-game meal as a chance for team building, which set off the fight.

Son and Lee both participated in the 2-0 defeat against Jordan, despite Jordan’s having two bandaged fingers.

Both will now play in World Cup qualifying matches on March 21 and 26 both at home and away against Thailand.

“My experience as a member of the national team suggests that addressing these kinds of problems early on can strengthen the team even more,” Hwang said.

A new full-time coach is expected to be appointed by the Korea Football Association prior to the June qualifiers against China and Singapore.

Hwang will take on the role of Under-23 coach in the meantime and lead South Korea to the U23 Asian Cup in Qatar in April, when spots for the Paris Olympics are up for grabs.

South Korea defeated China and Singapore to start their World Cup qualification campaign under Klinsmann.