Who Was Kang Ji Yong? 10 Things About the Late South Korean Football Player

Former professional football player, Kang Ji Yong, tragically passed away on April 22, 2025. His funeral was held three days later, with burial at the Cheonan Memorial Park in South Korea. The cause of his death remains undisclosed.

Throughout and beyond his career, Ji Yong had displayed courage and vulnerability in sharing his personal battles that span across societal pressures and professional hardships. As we join his family and the football community in mourning this loss, we list down 10 things to know about him.

Ji Yong was born on November 23, 1989. At the time of his passing, his international age was 35 years old.

He was selected as fifth overall in the 2009 K League Draft, marking the start of his professional career in sports. After playing three seasons with the Pohang Steelers, Ji Yong furthered his profession and moved on to play for several football clubs including Busan IPark, Bucheon FC, Gangwon FC, and Cheonan City FC, among others.

Ji Yong was a core player for defense. In 2014, he became part of Bucheon FC, where he led as Team Captain a year later. He played a total of 137 matches across all competitions in South Korea—K League 1, K League 2, and the League Cup.

Every quarter, the Fair Play Award is given to Bucheon players with outstanding performances and contributions to the team both on and off the field. Ji Yong was honored to be its recipient in 2015, wherein he played every match in that season and exhibited his leadership skills as a player and as an individual.

Ji Yong achieved the milestone of scoring his first goal in the K League when he was part of Gangwon FC. He attained this feat eight years into his career, highlighting great perseverance and determination.

Apart from the world of sports, Ji Yong was known to have connections to the entertainment industry, specifically as the cousin of Kwon Eun Bi. In 2018, Ji Yong encouraged people to vote in Produce 48, a reality competition where Eun Bi participated and ultimately became a member of the girl group IZ*ONE. Adding information to this relation was when Eun Bi shared in a radio program back in 2023 that her “cousin is a professional soccer player. He was in Pohang, then Gangwon, and Bucheon. His last name is not Kwon, though.”

Divorce Camp is a show by JTBC, a South Korean television network, where couples contemplating divorce can open up, communicate, and reconsider their plans on continuing their union. Ji Yong and his wife appeared on three occasions, with their most recent episode airing just a month ago. Following the news of his death, JTBC had respectfully removed all of the episodes featuring the couple.

Ji Yong shared on Divorce Camp that he worked at a chemical manufacturing plant post-retirement. He explained that he set aside the opportunities of becoming a coach and prioritized building a new career path to avoid separation from his wife, who was pregnant at the time he was debating retirement.

In the same show, Ji Yong candidly spoke about his financial strain and the emotional distress that rose from it. He expounded that there were many issues regarding the assets he entrusted to his parents; they had apparently taken his life savings and could not return them. Ji Yong also disclosed that he had co-signed a loan for his older brother, who unfortunately passed away. His situation brought awareness to the difficulties that many athletes face upon ending their careers.

Amidst the hardships and challenges, Ji Yong and his wife concluded their participation in Divorce Camp with an agreement to persist, to work through their differences, and to continue their marriage.

Rest in peace, Kang Ji Yong.