According to South Korean media reports, South Korea's men's under-23 football team aims to win the gold medal at the Asian Games for the fourth consecutive time in Asian Games men's football history. However, the assembly of the full squad has been delayed. The return of Lee Young-jun, the team's main striker who plays for Grasshoppers FC Zurich, remains uncertain. In the worst-case scenario, he may not be able to join the team in Japan until the group stage of the Asian Games in Nagoya.

According to the original plan, Lee Young-jun was supposed to join the team on September 14, but negotiations with his club have encountered difficulties, raising questions about his return date.

South Korea's men's team for the Asian Games, led by coach Lee Min-sung, aims to win the gold medal at this Asian Games. The team's first match in Group D will be on September 15 against Qatar. Players from domestic K League clubs and coaching staff have been training at the Korea Football Center in Chungcheongbuk Province since September 1. On September 6, the entire squad departed for Shizuoka, Japan, to begin their final overseas training camp before the competition, with European-based players gradually joining the team in Japan.

Apart from Lee Young-jun, the return dates of most other foreign-based players have been confirmed: Bae Jun-ho (Stoke City) and Kwon Chang-hoon (Swansea City) will report on September 10.

The biggest challenge now centres on Lee Young-jun. Grasshoppers FC Zurich recently underwent major management changes, and both parties are negotiating regarding the player's release to participate in the Asian Games. At the same time, Grasshoppers' league match against Sion has been rescheduled to September, increasing the number of matches the club wants Lee Young-jun to play in to two. The club hopes Lee Young-jun will report to the national team after playing in club matches on September 15 and 19.

This means the time for Lee Young-jun to adjust to the team's tactics and improve coordination will be severely limited.

In fact, foreign clubs' reluctance to release players has been a persistent problem for South Korea's national teams at various levels. Jong Woo-young for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup and Kim Min-soo for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup were not called up due to club objections. Yoon Min-hyeok and others who transferred during this summer's transfer window also faced timing issues requiring new coordination for national team call-ups.

However, this year FIFA has adjusted the A-Match calendar, compressing five weeks of international match windows per year to four weeks in World Cup years, and consolidating and extending international match windows in September and October. This provides the KFA with leverage in negotiations. An Asian Games gold medal can bring military service exemptions, which is a significant incentive for clubs to cooperate. Nevertheless, calling up foreign-based players still faces significant obstacles.

Head coach Lee Min-sung addressed this issue in an interview before flying to Japan, saying: "We now have more foreign-based players in the squad, a change driven by the times. Of course, it brings challenges, but we must adapt to this reality. Once all the European-based players join the team in Japan, we will work on improving the team's overall coordination." South Korea's Asian Games squad will train in Shizuoka until September 11, when a closed-door warm-up match will be held. On September 12, the entire squad will move to Nagoya, the official competition venue.

If Lee Young-jun cannot return in time, South Korea will have to begin their Asian Games title pursuit without their main striker.

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