How a North Korean made headlines in European soccer | CNN
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The surprising soccer career of Han Kwang Song
North Korean soccer player Kwang Song Han (left) moved to Europe to pursue a professional career in 2015. He first played for Perugia in Italy and is here seen controlling the ball in a Serie A match against Ternana in November 2017.
Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images
From Perugia, Han moved to Cagliari, where he started to garner attention through his skill and unusual status as a North Korean national playing in Europe.
Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images
In 2019, the forward moved to famed Italian club Juventus, though he never made a first-team appearance.
Daniele Badolato/Juventus FC/Getty Images
Han left Italy in January 2020 to join Qatari club Al Duhail. That was the last professional team he would play for as, unable to return to North Korea amid the Covid-19 pandemic, he was forced to return to Italy later that year.
Simon Holmes/Getty Images
Since then, Han, who has also represented his national team, was last reported to be living in an unspecified North Korean embassy in 2021.