Ulsan HD FC forward Lee Dong-gyeong has been voted the MVP of the top South Korean football league in 2025.
Lee earned the top individual honor in the K League 1 at the annual awards ceremony held at Swiss Grand Hotel in Seoul on Monday, after collecting 71 out of 134 votes from media, five out of 12 votes from K League 1 head coaches and eight out of 12 votes from K League 1 club captains.
These totals amounted to 53.69 voting points, with Park Jin-seob of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors finishing in second place with 35.71 points. Pablo Sabbag of Suwon FC was third with 10.6 points. Coaches and captains were not allowed to vote for players on their own clubs.
Lee, who also received 10 million won ($6,800) in prize money, is the fourth consecutive Ulsan player to win the MVP award and a record eighth overall.
Ulsan HD, after winning three straight titles from 2022 to 2024, finished in ninth this year -- the lowest placement ever for a club that produced an MVP winner. Lee is also the first K League 1 MVP to come from a club that didn't win a title since 2019, when then Ulsan midfielder Kim Bo-kyung had the honor.
Lee started this season with Gimcheon Sangmu FC as he was fulfilling his mandatory military service. He had 13 goals and 11 assists in 34 matches for the military club.
Following his discharge in October, Lee returned to Ulsan, his original team, and had an assist in two matches. He missed the final two matches of the season with a broken rib.
Overall, Lee led the K League 1 with 25 goal contributions, 115 shot attempts and 71 key passes.
"Ever since I started playing football, I've always wanted to reach great heights," Lee said after accepting his MVP trophy. "I am grateful for this award. I will take a moment to collect myself and then resume my journey toward even greater things humbly and diligently."
Asked what those bigger and better things entailed, Lee said, "It obviously includes trying to challenge myself in a bigger league, and I also want to keep working hard to become a more mature person."
Lee said winning the award felt so gratifying that "it makes me forget about all the difficult moments I've had over the years."
Specifically, Lee cited his brief and largely unsuccessful stint in Germany as "the most trying period of my football career." He played for Schalke 04 and Hansa Rostock on loan from 2022 to 2023, but appeared in only 13 matches in total and did not score a goal.
"That experience helped my career so much," Lee reflected. "I've gone through some good times and bad times in football. Not getting into matches while playing overseas allowed me to grow as a man. I started caring more about foreign players on my team."
Lee, who has collected 16 caps for the national team, will now try to make the World Cup squad next summer.
"It's a dream and a goal for every football player," said Lee, who has yet to play at a World Cup. "I have to be meticulous in how I prepare myself."
Jeonbuk head coach Gus Poyet was voted the Coach of the Year, after leading his team to a K League-record 10th title in his first season in South Korea. Jeonbuk narrowly avoided being relegated to the second-tier K League 2 last year but soared to the top of the tables this year under the Uruguayan boss.
Jeonbuk finished with 79 points from 23 wins, 10 draws and five losses, a 37-point turnaround from 2024, and clinched the title in October with five matches left in the season.
Poyet earned 75.63 points, well over Daejeon Hana Citizen FC coach Hwang Sun-hong, who had 15.19 points after guiding them to a runner-up finish.
Poyet is the fourth foreign-born tactician to win the Coach of the Year award in the K League 1.
Gangwon FC midfielder Lee Seung-won grabbed the Young Player of the Year award, given to the top player at age 23 or younger with less than three years of professional experience.
Lee had 66.87 points to become the second straight Gangwon player to win this honor, after current Portsmouth attacker Yang Min-hyeok.
