Korean club confirm transfer with bizarre salmon-riding 'Dune' tribute

Ulsan HD announced the return of Jung Woo-young in a wild press release, with AI images of the 34-year-old riding a salmon in a scene that looks like it comes straight out of "Dune."

A photo of Jung Woo-young riding a salmon through the desert in an AI-generated image by Ulsan HD. [ULSAN HD FC]

A Korean football club might have won their first trophy of the season — the unofficial prize for wildest transfer announcement, a veteran national team midfielder riding a salmon through a desert dressed like a character from the “Dune” franchise.

Ulsan HD, who play in the top domestic division, was rumored to have signed 34-year-old Jung Woo-young from the Saudi Pro League’s Al-Khaleej last month, with the club officially sharing the news Tuesday in English in a press release using the hook, “He rode a salmon across the Middle Eastern desert to get to Ulsan!”

A photo of Jung Woo-young sitting in front of a salmon in the desert in an AI-generated image by Ulsan HD. [ULSAN HD FC]

In one photo shared by Ulsan Tuesday, Jung is riding an oversized, gape-mouthed salmon using a saddle with a blank stare (the gloomy look applies to both Jung and the fish) as a couple of other salmon appear to hover in the sandy haze behind. In a different photo, Jung is sitting in front of the salmon next to a rock painted with the words “2007 Ulsan 2024.”

The press release does not specifically mention the "Dune" reference.

Jung graduated from Haksung High School in Nam-gu, Ulsan, where he began playing football, in 2007.

And there is an explanation for the salmon, too.

Jung took part in a photo shoot at Taehwagang Ecological Center in Ulsan, and the photos were doctored using generative AI, according to the release.

“The photo shoot connects the ‘salmon,’ a representative species of migratory instincts, with ‘Jung Woo-young,’ who is returning to his hometown after about 17 years,” according to the press release. “The shoot features Jung Woo-young alongside juvenile salmon, which will be released into the Taehwagang River in February of next year, in the salmon cultivation facility of the Ecological Center.”

Jung Woo-young poses with a fishing net. [ULSAN HD FC]

“Ulsan is my hometown. Rather than simply hearing that I have returned in glory, I am more excited to prove myself and enjoy myself in front of the Ulsan citizens,” Jung said in the press release. “I know that Ulsan fans have been waiting for me for a long time, and I am equally excited to play in the K League and eager to prepare well and show what I can do.”

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]