Kwon Soonwoo to play Busan Challenger during South Korea military service

He's back! Former South Korean No. 1 Kwon Soonwoo, currently in the midst of compulsory military service, is making a sooner-than-expected return to professional tennis this week. He's received an exemption to compete in one of the biggest tournaments held in his home country.

The one-time world No. 52 has put his tennis career on hiatus for 18 months of compulsory service, which has existed since 1957 and requires male citizens between the ages of 18 and 35 to enlist. Various exemptions to service exist, including for athletes who have achieved what the government determines is prominent international success.

Kwon, who in 2021 became just the second Korean man to win an ATP tour-level singles title and owns two in his career, could have secured his own exemption only by winning a gold medal at last year’s Asian Games. But having just returned from a serious shoulder injury, the Korean was instead ousted in the second round by Thailand’s Samrej Kasidit, and his subsequent racquet-smashing meltdown made global headlines.

Read more: South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon set for mandatory military service: “I’ll be back”

After declaring "I'll be back" in a December social media post, Kwon has received various permissions to play. After playing for the national team in Davis Cup at the start of this year, and a recent domestic event, he has now received a wildcard to the longest-running ATP Challenger in Asia.

His compatriot, 28-year-old Chung Hyeon, also received a wild card. Chung, who became the first Korean player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal at the 2018 Australian Open, has been navigating his own career pause since reaching his career-high ranking of No. 19 in April of 2018.

The 2017 NextGen ATP Finals champion's career has largely been derailed by a persistent back injury, but in his latest comeback, he captured his first professional title in more than five years in January at an ITF M25 event in Indonesia. This year on the ITF circuit, primarily at M15 and M25 level, Chung is 22-3 in six tournaments, and has won his last 10 matches to capture two consecutive M15 titles in Japan.