South Korea drop Park for World Cup qualifiers

Arsenal striker Park Chu-young has been left out of the South Korean squad for next month's final round of 2014 World Cup qualifiers amid a backlash from fans over his controversial decision to delay his mandatory military service.

Supporters in Korea have voiced their frustration at Park after he recently obtained a 10-year residence permit from Monaco and delayed his military duty by almost a decade.

Despite the upset, the striker was a surprise admission when the Korean Football Association named a 26-man national squad on Thursday for the friendly against world champions Spain on May 30 in Switzerland and next month's World Cup qualifiers against Qatar and Lebanon.

South Korea will also face Iran and Uzbekistan as they aim to take part in their eighth consecutive World Cup finals.

The former South Korea captain, who played in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, enjoyed three seasons with AS Monaco in France before joining English Premier League side Arsenal in August.

However, Park has endured a nightmare first season in England and has become a forgotten man at Arsenal. He has scored just one goal in six appearances and has frequently failed to even make the substitutes bench for matches.

The 26-year old striker has, however, been in prolific form for his national team and is joint second in the top scorers list in the Asian qualifiers with six goals.