‘Long time no see, fans’: Korea’s Lee Jang-Kun returns to PKL, with proud six-pack abs from a stint on Netflix show Physical 100 | Sport-others News

For the past few years, Lee Jang-Kun has been waking up to many, many messages from his fans in India begging him to come back. Besides the Iranians, Lee was one of the rare foreign players who have made their mark in the Pro Kabaddi League, which enters its 11th season this year. But he has not featured in the PKL since the pandemic.“Lots of messages. Direct Messages. ‘Missing you Jang-Kun Lee’ or ‘please come back’ or ‘I love you Lee’,” recollects Lee.
Lee speaks very little English. But he has a message for his fans in India. “Long time no see fans. Sorry. Very late. But I am back. Cheer for me!” he tells The Indian Express from Korea after being picked the Patna Pirates in the PKL auction last week for a price tag of Rs 17.50 lakh.
When the pandemic brought the sport to a standstill, the league only returned in 2021. However, since the sport is a contact sport, Lee opted to sit out the post-pandemic edition.
Ask him if he missed playing in the PKL in front of thousands of fans daily and he says: “Very, very missing. I like kabaddi. My life kabaddi. I want to play PKL. But COVID and some little, little problems (prevented me from playing in the PKL for the last few seasons). COVID very big problem. My life was stopped: Kabaddi cancel, training cancel. All cancel during COVID 2019. COVID was very big problem, I was scared. India was in very big problem. I tell I’m not going because COVID is big problem for me.”
Lee Jang-Kun in action during a Netflix show Physical 100. (Special Arrangement | Netflix)
So what did he do in all these years?
“In Korea, playing kabaddi for Korea Kabaddi Club in Busan. I was a club kabaddi player. No job. Only enjoy the club team,” he says before adding: “Also some talent on TV.”
Lee is talking about his stint with the Netflix reality show Physical 100, which pits 100 competitors against each other. In each episode, competitors are given challenges that test their bodies in elimination battles. To compete in the show, Lee got shredded, with veins popping out from his sinewy body.
Lee had to compete against professional athletes from swimming, football, rug, track and field, arm wrestling, bodybuilding, judo, weightlifting besides the occasional carpenter, ballerina, nurse and some fitness YouTubers, actors and K-pop stars. Jung Ji-hyun, an Olympics gold medal-winning wrestler from the Athens Olympics, was also one of the competitors.
Competing in each contest was back-breakingly hard, with challenges like running on a manual treadmill (which is powered only your feet) and racing through a maze carrying weighted gunny bags.
After missing three seasons, Lee Jang-Kun is back after starring in a reality show back home. (Special Arrangement | Netflix)
One of the contests sees a shirtless Lee tussling for control of an exercise ball in a one-on-one ‘death match’ with Choi Won-jae. The battle, being fought in a swamp-like pit filled with muddy water, sees him emerge triumphant. While in the PKL, Lee is known for his raiding prowess and the ability to slip past the strongest defences, in this battle, he slams his opponent into the watery floor a couple of times on his way to winning the contest. His performance is so eye-catching that he got voted as one of the 10 team leaders in the next quest.
The training to get in shape for the show was even more gruelling than competing, says Lee. He says that building muscles was important for that show since it is a TV program. “Need showmanship,” he says. “So more hard training for it. Crossfit and hard weight training in the gym for four months (before the show started shooting).” The shooting went on for one month.
“It was very heavy. But very fun. I am a kabaddi player. All kabaddi players strong. Show others!” he grins as he describes his stint in Physical 100.
Ask him how the reality show compared to playing kabaddi and he says: “More running (in Physical 100.) You know crossfit? More crossfit training.”
While playing in the PKL made him a household name in India, featuring in a show on Netflix got him fans from different countries.
Lee Jang-Kun says he has received countless messages from the Indian fans to return to PKL. (Special Arrangement | Netflix)
“Celebrity, yes, yes, yes. Other country people were watching. Thanks to the show, people watch me in Korea, but other country also. Brazil, Indonesia, Philippines,” he says excitedly.
Lee’s campaign at Physical 100 ends in the fourth ‘quest’, which is shown on episode 8. The last visual of Lee on the show is of him shirtless, flashing his abs while dragging a heavy roller behind him. His upcoming challenge at the Pro Kabaddi will not require him to show off those muscles he’s built so meticulously. PKL demands a different kind of showmanship, one that earned Lee his fame in the first few seasons.
“I’m excited about playing for Patna in PKL,” Lee says over a video call from Korea. But before signing off, he lifts his shirt to tap proudly on the abs and says with a grin: “But I still have my abs.”