Seattle Reign FC Signs South Korean Midfielder Ji So-Yun
Seattle Reign FC today announced that the club has signed South Korean midfielder Ji So-Yun through the 2025 season, for an agreed upon transfer fee to Suwon FC. Ji will join Seattle Reign FC for preseason following receipt of her visa.
"It is a highlight moment in the history of the club to be signing a player of Ji's pedigree and ability,” said Seattle Reign FC General Manager Lesle Gallimore. “Her experience and accomplishments are well documented. The intangibles she brings are an individual style to her game, veteran leadership and a game savvy, which complements others around her and gives opponents fits. We can't wait to see her in the team and for our fans to get to know her."
The veteran midfielder joins the Reign from Suwon FC in the WK League, the highest-level women’s league in South Korea. She joined the team in 2022, immediately making her mark with a brace in her debut match. She went on to make 27 appearances for the club and score 11 goals, including three WK League playoff goals. In 2023, Ji was named Midfielder of the Year for a second consecutive season after leading Suwon FC to the championship.
Prior to her time with Suwon FC, Ji spent eight seasons with Chelsea, arriving in 2014 as the first South Korean player to play in the FA Women’s Super League. That season, she was named the league’s Player of the Year and the PFA Players’ Player of the Year.
The creative midfielder went on to make history as the first non-British player to reach 100 and then 200 league appearances in the WSL. Ji totaled 210 appearances and scored 68 goals across all competitions with Chelsea to help the club win 13 major titles – six league titles, four FA Cups, two league cups and one Community Shield. Ji departed the WSL in 2022 as one of the top goal-scorers in league history.
“I am so happy we could bring Ji to our club, her experience and ability at playing at the highest level of the game will bring so much to our team,” said Seattle Reign FC Head Coach Laura Harvey. “She is a proven winner who can solve things on the pitch in multiple ways. I can’t wait to work with her and continue to push this team forward.”
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Ji is one of the most prolific South Korean women’s soccer players of all time. She became the nation’s youngest goal-scorer (15 years, 282 days) in 2006 and is now the squad’s all-time leading goal-scorer with 69 goals across 154 senior national team appearances.
The 32-year-old’s international accolades include being shortlisted for FIFA’s Best Women’s Footballer and the FIFPRO World 11, earning South Korea’s Women’s Footballer of the Year honors seven times and being named the first female co-president of the Korean Pro-Footballer's Association.