´People´s Rooney´ Jong to sign with VfL Bochum

North Korea’s ace striker Jong Tae-se, who made an impressive but goalless World Cup debut, left Japan for Germany Wednesday to sign a contract with VfL Bochum after a medical checkup.

“I was gutted when I could not score any goal at the World Cup,” the 26-year-old told reporters at Tokyo’s Narita airport. “I want to vent my frustration in Germany. My target is to score 10 goals a year.”

“My dream is the (English) Premier League,” said Jong, who was born in Japan and played for J-League Kawasaki Frontale after graduating from an ethnic Korean university in Tokyo in 2006.

Bochum want Jong, nicknamed Asia’s Wayne Rooney or the “People’s Rooney” for his combative style, to boost their firepower.

North Korea, playing in their first World Cup in 44 years, went down fighting 2-1 to five-time champions Brazil but were crushed 7-0 by Portugal and 3-0 by Ivory Coast at the group stage in South Africa.

Jong, who has scored 15 goals in 25 internationals for North Korea since making his debut in 2007, was seen working hard as the lone striker in the doggedly defensive North Korean squad.

“I won’t restrain myself just because I am an Asian. I will be assertive both in private life and on the pitch,” he said. “I want to help bring the team back to the first division with confidence.”

Jong holds South Korean nationality like his father, who was born in Japan to immigrants from colonial Korea.

But he managed to obtain a North Korean passport after attending patriotic pro-Pyongyang schools in Japan at the urging of his mother, who has been loyal to the North.