Handball's Top Rookie Prospects Song Jeu and Kim Eunyul: "We'll Carry the Asian Games Momentum into the H League"

Song Jeu, a veteran of Japan’s league, goes to SK Hawks as men’s No. 1 pick
Women’s expansion team’s priority pick Kim Eunyul joins Chungnam Development Corporation
New H League season opens December 6...163 games in total

South Korean handball regained its pride at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The women’s national team avenged its loss to Japan in the final of the 2022 Hangzhou Games and reclaimed the gold medal for the first time in eight years, while the men’s team reached the semifinals after bouncing back from its disappointing quarterfinal exit in Hangzhou. The improved results have also sparked greater public interest in handball.

The Handball H League, which will carry this momentum forward, opens on December 6, 2026. Song Jeu and Kim Eunyul, regarded as the top prospects in this year’s H League rookie class, said they had been impressed by the performances of their senior teammates at the Asian Games and pledged to give their all as rookies to help the league attract widespread public attention.

At the 2026-2027 rookie draft held on October 27 at the Mayfield Hotel in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, Song Jeu was selected by SK Hawks as the overall No. 1 pick in the men’s division. Kim Eunyul was the first player announced after receiving a priority pick from women’s expansion team Chungnam Development Corporation.

Song Jeu, selected by SK Hawks as the overall No. 1 pick in the men's division at the 2026-2027 rookie draft. Korea Handball Federation

Song Jeu graduated from Korea National Sport University two years ago. Instead of entering the domestic H League draft, he chose to pursue a career in Japan and spent two years playing for the Fukuoka Golden Wolves. “I had a lot on my mind before the draft and couldn’t sleep. Then I received an offer from a Japanese team, and I thought it might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I decided to play in Japan,” Song said.

Kim Taegwan, who joined Chungnam Provincial Government as the overall No. 1 pick in the men’s division at the 2024-2025 H League rookie draft and won Rookie of the Year, was Song’s teammate from elementary through high school and again at university. Song said he looks forward to competing with Kim in the H League. “Taegwan’s strength is his explosiveness,” he said. “I’m better at defense, and I’m quick on the fast break.”

Having already experienced Japan’s professional league, Song was also selected for the national team at the Asian Games. He played in all seven games and scored 10 goals. He was particularly effective in the preliminary-round game against Kazakhstan, playing for more than 40 minutes and scoring four goals.

He also played for 21 minutes and 14 seconds and scored two goals in the bronze-medal match against Japan. However, South Korea lost to Japan by five goals and missed out on a medal. Speaking about the Japanese league, which he experienced firsthand, Song said, “The pace is incredibly fast, and there are so many players who are much bigger than I am.” At 190.4 cm, Song was the tallest of the 19 men who entered this year’s draft.

Asked whether he had expected to be selected first overall, Song said, “Honestly, I had some idea it might happen.” He added, “I entered the draft because I felt I had gained enough experience in Japan, and I’ll show everyone what I can do in South Korea.”

Kim Eunyul, selected as the priority pick by the new women's team Chungnam Development Corporation in the 2026-2027 rookie draft. Korea Handball Federation

Kim Eunyul, who received the women’s division’s priority pick, also showed confidence when asked whether she had expected to be the first player announced. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t expect it,” she said.

Kim, a graduate of Jungshin Girls’ High School, said the performances of her senior teammates on the national team at this year’s Asian Games had been a powerful source of motivation. Asked what she thought of the Asian Games matches, she said, “The older players were so unbelievably good that I was envious.” She added, “We couldn’t help feeling sorry that we hadn’t achieved good results at the World Championship.” The South Korean U18 team, of which Kim is a member, failed to reach the quarterfinals at the International Handball Federation (IHF) U18 World Championship held in Romania from July to August 2026, finishing 14th among 32 countries.

Kim also said she is determined to improve her skills, join the senior national team and follow the example of her senior teammates. “The H League is very different from high school, so I think there may be a big gap between my skills and theirs,” she said. “I’ll work hard on strength training and build up my physique so I can stand up to them.”

Kim, who is 173 cm tall, plays left back (LB) and center back (CB). Describing her strengths, she said, “I have good physical attributes, so I can take long-range shots, and I’m good at using my hands in defense.” She identified her individual breakthrough ability as an area to improve and said, “I’ll train hard.”

The 2026-2027 Handball H League will run for six months, from December 6, 2026, to May 9, 2027, in eight regions across the country.

The men’s division will feature six teams playing a total of 75 games over five rounds. With the addition of Chungnam Development Corporation, the women’s division has expanded to nine teams and will play a total of 88 games, including a newly introduced split round. After two rounds, teams will be divided according to their regular-season standings: teams ranked first through fourth will enter the upper split, while those ranked fifth through ninth will enter the lower split. In the lower split, only the first-place team will advance to the postseason semifinals.

The men’s postseason will take place from April 16 to 25, 2027. The second- and third-place teams in the regular season will play in the playoffs, and the winner will face the regular-season first-place team in the championship series to determine the overall champion.

The women’s postseason will run from May 1 to 9, 2027. The second- and fifth-place teams, and the third- and fourth-place teams, will each play in the semifinals, with the winners advancing to the playoffs. The playoff winner will face the regular-season first-place team in the championship series to determine the season’s overall champion. The men’s and women’s championship series will both be best-of-three matchups held at Ticketlink Live Arena in Seoul.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.