While American, Russian and Chinese money has been "flooding" into the Premier League and below for more than a decade, there has "yet to be investment from the Korean Peninsula," according to Sam Morshead of the London DAILY MAIL. However, Seoul-based sports marketing firm Sportizen is "in talks" to acquire National League side Woking from current majority shareholder Peter Jordan. The group, led by California-educated Chankoo Shim, became the first Korean investors in European football "when they completed a takeover of Belgian second-tier outfit AFC Tubize" in '14. Now they have "their sights set on England," and the team which finished 18th in the fifth-tier last season. Shim, whose business ethos has earned him the nickname "the Jerry Maguire of Korea," has "ambitions of bringing young Korean players to Europe and the purchase of Woking could act as the first bridge to delivering his dream." Some Woking staff members have been "asked to sign non-disclosure agreements as talks continue," with a deal for the club worth around £2M ($2.6M) on the table. The deal is being managed by investment broker Blackbridge and Chair Alexander Jarvis, who had "previously been connected with Chinese investors interested in acquiring other larger English clubs" including EPL sides Middlesbrough and Southampton as well as League Championship side Hull City (DAILY MAIL, 7/26).
