1 year ago
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He became known as “the little North Korean.”Bursting into the soccer world in 2017, Pyongyang-born striker Han Kwang Song impressed teammates and coaches, rising to the heady heights of Italian giant Juventus at the age of 21.Then he vanished — his whereabouts are still unknown."He’s losing the best years of his career,” Max Canzi, Han’s coach at Cagliari’s U-19 team.Back then, Canzi was tasked with assessing Han’s potential.“He was very fast, and he took very fast decisions and he was very, very good in controlling the ball, shooting with both feet. He was a very good talent,” Canzi said.Signing him was a challenge, navigating UN sanctions ordering member states to repatriate all North Korean workers following a nuclear test in 2017.Han joined Cagliari as an academy player. Just two months later he was playing in Serie A, the top division of the Italian soccer league.“The strongest emotion I have had to be honest is my first Serie A goal,” Han said, translated into English. “Everyone is nice to me and here people are very welcoming, I live far away from my family, but I feel home here."A blockbuster $3.7 million dollar transfer to Juventus followed. Then, a $4.6 million contract to Al-Duhail in Qatar – his last sporting move.Winning the Qatar Stars League Trophy in August 2020 — this was the last time he was seen in public.Months later, a UN document showed Han had been deported in line with sanctions, boarding a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Rome in January 2021. It is here that the trail goes cold – North Korea’s borders are still shut due to COVID-19, making repatriation impossible.The former coach of North Korea’s national team, Jorn Andersen, told CNN that he believes that Han is still in Italy but cannot play football. An official close to the issue says Han was last believed to be living in an unspecified North Korean embassy.CNN has asked Italian authorities for clarification on his whereabouts but have not heard back.For Han, one of his former teammates says the tragedy is a promising career cut short."You’re dedicating your whole life, your whole life to that and it gets taken away from you because of political reasons,” Nicholas Pennington, Han’s teammate on Cagliari, said.Pennington said Han was well-liked and fit in easily, but was always accompanied by an Italian man he called security — more likely he was his minder, a common way Pyongyang monitors its own when overseas.Any time Pennington asked him about North Korea, he says the conversation ended abruptly."He would just say, ‘Yeah, yeah. Good, good,’ and that’s it. Nothing else,” Pennington said.Han was once a success story of North Korea’s sporting aspirations. Only 24 years old, the young striker could now be a victim of its nuclear ambitions.Watch the video above for more on this story.
He became known as “the little North Korean.”
Bursting into the soccer world in 2017, Pyongyang-born striker Han Kwang Song impressed teammates and coaches, rising to the heady heights of Italian giant Juventus at the age of 21.
Then he vanished — his whereabouts are still unknown.
"He’s losing the best years of his career,” Max Canzi, Han’s coach at Cagliari’s U-19 team.
Back then, Canzi was tasked with assessing Han’s potential.
“He was very fast, and he took very fast decisions and he was very, very good in controlling the ball, shooting with both feet. He was a very good talent,” Canzi said.
Signing him was a challenge, navigating UN sanctions ordering member states to repatriate all North Korean workers following a nuclear test in 2017.
Han joined Cagliari as an academy player. Just two months later he was playing in Serie A, the top division of the Italian soccer league.
“The strongest emotion I have had to be honest is my first Serie A goal,” Han said, translated into English. “Everyone is nice to me and here people are very welcoming, I live far away from my family, but I feel home here."
A blockbuster $3.7 million dollar transfer to Juventus followed. Then, a $4.6 million contract to Al-Duhail in Qatar – his last sporting move.
Winning the Qatar Stars League Trophy in August 2020 — this was the last time he was seen in public.
Months later, a UN document showed Han had been deported in line with sanctions, boarding a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Rome in January 2021.
It is here that the trail goes cold – North Korea’s borders are still shut due to COVID-19, making repatriation impossible.
The former coach of North Korea’s national team, Jorn Andersen, told CNN that he believes that Han is still in Italy but cannot play football. An official close to the issue says Han was last believed to be living in an unspecified North Korean embassy.
CNN has asked Italian authorities for clarification on his whereabouts but have not heard back.
For Han, one of his former teammates says the tragedy is a promising career cut short.
"You’re dedicating your whole life, your whole life to that and it gets taken away from you because of political reasons,” Nicholas Pennington, Han’s teammate on Cagliari, said.
Pennington said Han was well-liked and fit in easily, but was always accompanied by an Italian man he called security — more likely he was his minder, a common way Pyongyang monitors its own when overseas.
Any time Pennington asked him about North Korea, he says the conversation ended abruptly.
"He would just say, ‘Yeah, yeah. Good, good,’ and that’s it. Nothing else,” Pennington said.
Han was once a success story of North Korea’s sporting aspirations. Only 24 years old, the young striker could now be a victim of its nuclear ambitions.
Watch the video above for more on this story.
English (US)