"Yang Min-hyuk returned with a gold medal" — Upon his return to Westerlo, teammates welcomed him with "applause and a bouquet of flowers"

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Yang Min-hyuk, who won a gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, has returned to his club, Westerlo (Belgium). The club and his teammates greeted him with warm words of welcome.

Westerlo announced on its official social media platform on the 8th (Korean time), "We warmly welcome Yang Min-hyuk's return," while releasing a related video.

The video captured Yang Min-hyuk receiving a bouquet of flowers as he was applauded by his fellow players.

Westerlo players lined up in two rows to applaud Yang Min-hyuk, who walked through them with a bright smile. Subsequently, standing before the players, Yang Min-hyuk received a bouquet prepared by the club and bowed his head to express his gratitude.

Yang Min-hyuk was included in the 23rd-man roster of the Nam Ja-chuk-gu (CEO) team for this Asian Games, contributing to South Korea's gold medal victory.

In particular, he started in the final match against Japan held at Toyota Stadium on the 3rd, creating a decisive moment.

At the 16th minute of the second half, Yang Min-hyuk dispossessed Mihiro Sato and immediately delivered a cross, which Uhm Ji-sung finished off to score the winning goal.

South Korea held on to that lead until the end, securing a 1-0 victory. With this, they wrote a new history by becoming the first men's football team to win four consecutive titles at the Asian Games.

However, parts of Yang Min-hyuk's interview immediately after the tournament also sparked controversy. There were ongoing criticisms that he had focused excessively on military service benefits.

In response, Yang Min-hyuk directly explained his intentions and apologized.

He stated, "Participating in the Asian Games as a member of the South Korean national team was itself highly meaningful, and as a player, I naturally did my best with the goal of winning the championship and a gold medal."

He continued, "The meaning that military service benefits were one of several motivations available to me in order to achieve better results was miscommunicated," adding, "Regardless of my intention, it is clearly my fault that many people felt uncomfortable."

Having finished the tournament and returned to his club, Yang Min-hyuk will now continue a new competition at Westerlo.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original