S. Korean footballers satisfied with new World Cup kit

All News 09:41 March 23, 2018

DUBLIN, March 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea men's national football team players said they're satisfied with the new kit that they'll wear at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Designed by the U.S.-based global sportswear brand Nike, the new outfits for the national football team were introduced Thursday. Inspired by the national flag Taegeukgi and "hallyu," which refers to the Korean Wave of popular culture, South Korea's home jersey features a look composed of a red shirt, black shorts and red socks. The away kit was all white, with the shirt adorned with a "taegeuk" wave pattern that symbolizes hallyu.

The men's national players, who are currently training in Dublin to prepare for the friendly match against Northern Ireland in Belfast on Saturday, said they liked the new kit.

This combined image shows the South Korea national football team's World Cup kits since 2002. From left are Ahn Jung-hwan in 2002, Park Ji-sung in 2006, Lee Chung-yong in 2010, Ki Sung-yueng in 2014 and a model wearing South Korea's new kit for the 2018 FIFA Cup. (Yonhap)

"As a player, the uniform's functionality is more important than the design," said midfielder Lee Jae-sung before training at FAI National Training Centre in Dublin on Thursday. "It makes me feel that I can move more freely on the pitch."

South Korea previously donned a red shirt-black shorts uniform during the 1998 World Cup qualifying campaign.

"The combination of red and black reminds me of the good old days," Lee said. "I'm really excited with this new uniform, and I want to show it to the fans quickly."

Left back Kim Jin-su agreed that the new kit is comfortable, saying it feels lighter than the previous uniform.

"As for design, it's simple and has a bit of a retro style," he said. "People will say different things based on their personal preferences, but as a player, I like it in terms of functionality."

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said that the players will wear the red-shirt home kit in the upcoming friendly matches against Northern Ireland and Poland. South Korea are scheduled to face Poland on Tuesday on the road.