Soo Il Kang (강수일)
Soo Il Kang (강수일) is a professional soccer player who currently plays for Ratchaburi Mitr Phol Football Club in the Thai League 1 (Thailand).
Soo Il began his professional career in 2007 with Incheon United (인천 유나이티드) of K League 1 (Korea) and has also played for Jeju United (제주 유나이티드) and the Pohang Steelers (포항 스틸러스).
His success made him a sensation and inspiration, especially for mixed blooded Koreans in Korea, as his drive and determination overcame the lifelong discrimination he had endured. With his successful play, Soo Il was ultimately able to achieve a dream by being selected to represent Korea as a member of the National Team.
Unfortunately, in June 2015, his career was disrupted due to a failed drug test that occurred right before he was set to make his Korean National Team international debut. This setback tarnished much of what Soo Il had worked so hard to gain.
Since then, Soo Il has worked hard and successfully resumed playing professionally. He played for Thespakusatsu Gunma (ザスパクサツ群馬) of the J2League (Japan) in 2017 and has high hopes of returning to play in Korea again in the near future.
We had the chance to catch up with Soo Il last summer (July 2017) to discuss his personal background and soccer career and are pleased to present this interview.