goodmorningpapua.com – Yoo Jae-hoon is not a stranger to Indonesian football. How not, the figure who is now 38 years old has had a career in Indonesia since 2010 until his retirement in 2019.
Yes, Persipura Jayapura is Yoo Jae-hoon’s first team in Indonesia. There is an interesting story about the process of Yoo’s moving to Jayapura at that time.
One of the reasons was because he couldn’t play since at the outset of of the season in the K-League or the Korean League at that time. This is because the player registration has closed.
Before strengthening Persipura, Yoo had played in the K-League by strengthening Daejon Citizen.
“Because, honestly, registration for the Korean League was closed. I couldn’t play, I had to wait 4 months. I didn’t want to wait 4 months. I wanted to try Indonesia,” said Yoo Jae-hoon on Tiento Indonesia’s Youtube channel recently.
In the early era, the Indonesia Super League did introduce the rules for foreign players with Asian passports. Before Yoo, there were already several South Korean players trying their luck in Indonesia such as Park Chul-hyung, Choi Dong-so, and Shin Hyun-joon. Yoo Jae-hoon also claimed to have received information about Indonesian football from them.
Initially, Yoo admitted that he would only try the Indonesian League for one season. However, in his first season, the 2010/2011 Indonesia Super League, Yoo managed to bring Persipua to win.
This made him want to continue his career longer in Indonesia. Moreover, he also feels comfortable living in Papua.
“Initially I wanted to try it for a year, but Praise to God in 2010 I immediately won and finally continued again, and I continued to feel more at home in Papua,” he explained.