Korean football star Park Ji-sung, who plays for Queens Park Rangers in the English league, was spotted enjoying a date with SBS announcer Kim Min-ji on Tuesday night.
Sports Seoul, a local sports daily, ran 10 photographs of their date on its website Wednesday.
Park Ji-sung (left) and Kim Min-ji. (Yonhap News)
The photos show Park and Kim together at Hangang Riverside Park. In one of them, they are sitting on a bench side by side and watching the FIFA World Cup qualifier between Korea and Iran on a mobile phone together.
Kim’s mother, Oh Myung-hee, a professor at the University of Suwon, confirmed their relationship, Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday.
“Recently I was told by my daughter that she is dating Park,” Oh told Yonhap. “My family has not met with Park’s family yet. It is Park and Kim who will progress their marriage.” Such a meeting is the first formal procedure for them to get married.
The 32-year-old soccer player, who founded the JS Foundation, is scheduled to hold a news conference on his future in Suwon on Thursday shortly after a ceremony awarding sponsorships to talented students selected by the foundation.
Park joined Manchester United in 2005 and moved to QPR last year after playing for seven years at the famous club.
The 28-year-old Kim graduated from Ewha Womans University and joined SBS as an announcer in 2010. She presents “Football Magazine Goal!” and a few other shows.
By Chun Sung-woo (
swchun@heraldcorp.com)