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Spurs soccer star Son to serve in military during Premier League break

Tottenham Hotspur star Heung-Min Son is recovering from a broken right arm after sustaining the injury during a Feb. 16 win against Aston Villa. File Photo by Peter Powell/EPA-EFE
Tottenham Hotspur star Heung-Min Son is recovering from a broken right arm after sustaining the injury during a Feb. 16 win against Aston Villa. File Photo by Peter Powell/EPA-EFE

April 6 (UPI) -- Tottenham Hotspur star Heung-Min Son will serve in the South Korean military while the Premier League is suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The club can confirm that Heung-Min Son will commence his mandatory military service in South Korea this month," Spurs said Monday.

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Son plans to return to Tottenham in May.

Able-bodied South Korean men -- aged between 18 and 35 -- are required to serve in the military. The 27-year-old striker initially received an exemption from the mandatory military service after South Korea won a gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games.

Son returned to South Korea at the end of March and is in quarantine. He is also recovering from a broken right arm, an injury he sustained during a Feb. 16 win against Aston Villa. Son remains in contact with Spurs medical personnel as he recovers.

"[Son] will move to Jeju Island as soon as he has completed self quarantine, and will receive three weeks of basic military training at the 9th Brigade of the Marine Corps beginning on April 20," Son's agent, Seung-hyuk Son, told CNN.

"Basic military training in the army is usually scheduled for four weeks, but the navy [the Marine Corps] has been changed to three weeks [since] 2019."

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Son, 27, had surgery on the arm in South Korea before returning to the team at the end of February. The Premier League announced Sunday that play has been suspended indefinitely amid the coronavirus pandemic. Son has nine goals and seven assists this season in Premier League play.

"It was acknowledged that the Premier League will not resume at the beginning of May -- and that the 2019 to 2020 season will only return when it is safe and appropriate to do so," the Premier League said Sunday in a statement.

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