FIFA.com had an exclusive interview with the 24-year-old Jong, who also plays for the J League's Kawasaki Frontale. The story, entitled "Jong straddles the 38th parallel", said the striker is "blessed with terrific strength, which he uses to brush off defenders and hold the ball up" and "has been dubbed the 'Aisan Wayne Rooney'."

Born in Japan to Korean parents with South Korean citizenship, Jong went to a secondary school and university operated by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, a pro-Pyongyang group in Japan. He aspired to be a professional soccer player throughout his school years. "I feel I am North Korean and it was a great honor to be selected to play for them," he said in the interview.

The website of FIFA featuring a story about Jong Tae-se.

But despite his joy in playing for North Korea, his early experiences with the team were disappointing. "The J League is blessed with great training facilities and support structure, but facilities are not as good in North Korea. The team's fighting spirit also let me down," he said. "We played much weaker teams in the qualifiers for the East Asian Football Championship, and my team-mates took it too easy. This made me angry at first, but in the finals of the championship, everyone worked hard and had a real will to win."

Asked what he thinks about being called the "Asian Wayne Rooney," he said, "I don't think we are alike. Rooney is a year younger than me, but he's a wonderful player." But Jong wouldn't mind joining Rooney in the Premier League some day. "I like speaking English and so an English-speaking country would suit me. I'd like to see what I could achieve under that kind of pressure."

Jong said that it was difficult times with the J League that motivated him to push his limits. "Those disappointments led me to train twice as hard. It wasn't the environment I was in that made me strong, it was my own determination. I always set goals and try to believe that now is the best time of my life. I want to live my life to the full with no regrets," he said.

(englishnews@chosun.com )