Seoul Ambition is the remarkable story of how the nation of South Korea—despite its infamous obsession with academics—focuses feverishly on sports in ways much different than what we’re used to in the West.

South Korean athletes dominate leaderboards in international golf events and have won the most Olympic medals of all-time in archery and short track speed skating. The country has produced transcendent talents in figure skating and the budding arena of esports, creating a seemingly never-ending pipeline of children who want to emulate their success.

Yet, the talent development process in Korea presents an interesting conundrum. Though all young athletes pour in hours of practice, Korean athletes traditionally only become world class in a select few niche sports. One victory from a 20-year-old golfer caused one of the greatest talent rushes in modern sports, but a captivating World Cup run in men’s soccer did not. In fact, Son Heung-min, the most dynamic Korean soccer player of all time, actually had to rebel against the system to become a creative genius.

What is happening behind the scenes? After spending years as a coach and physical education teacher in Seoul, author Joel Cressman set out to answer that question. Seoul Ambition explores the amazing stories of:

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