Tottenham-bound teenager Yang Min-hyeok was handed his first international call-up after being named in South Korea’s squad for next month’s World Cup qualifiers.
The 18-year-old forward signed for the Premier League club last month and will join from Gangwon FC in January after the South Korean season ends.
Yang was called up by new coach Hong Myung-bo as South Korea begin their World Cup qualifying final round campaign against Palestine at home on September 5 and Oman away five days later.
Captain Son Heung-min was also named in the squad on Monday, alongside Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae and Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in.
Yang has scored eight goals this season for Gangwon, who lead the K-League table after 28 games.
Hong said the teenager had “done enough this season to deserve a spot on the national team”.
“His body of work for this season speaks for itself, and I think this was the right time to give him this opportunity,” South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted Hong as saying.
“A lot of people have high expectations of him, and I hope he can do some good things for us here.”
Hong was named as South Korea’s new coach last month after a protracted search to find a successor to Jurgen Klinsmann, who was fired after the Asian Cup in February.
South Korea are aiming to qualify for their 11th straight World Cup.
