Lim Seon-joo (, ; born 27 November 1990) is a South Korean footballer who plays as a centre-back for WK League side Seoul City Hall and the South Korean national team. She is one of the South Korean women's team's most capped players, having played at two World Cups, four Asian Cups, two Asian Games and four East Asian Cups.

Early life Lim was born in Seogwipo in Jeju Province. After graduating from Nohyung Elementary School in Jeju City, she moved to Ulsan to pursue football seriously, attending Hyundai Chungeun Middle School and Hyundai High School. Lim continued her youth career at Hanyang Women's University. She played an important role in Hanyang's victory at the 2010 Unification Cup.

Club career Lim was selected by Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels as the first overall pick at the 2011 WK League new players' draft. She captained the side from 2020 to 2021, leading the Red Angels to their eighth and ninth consecutive WK League titles. Lim won a total of eleven consecutive WK League titles with Incheon Hyundai. She transferred to Seoul City in 2026 but sustained an injury in the team's season opener against Suwon FC.

International career

South Korea youth teams Lim was part of the South Korean team that won the gold medal at the 2009 Summer Universiade, the country's best ever finish in women's football at the competition. She was then a key player in the South Korean squad that came in third place at the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the first South Korean national team to finish third in a FIFA tournament.

South Korea Lim made her full international debut for South Korea in 2009. She scored in her debut match, a 19–0 victory against the Northern Mariana Islands in the qualifying tournament for the 2010 EAFF Women's Football Championship. Lim made her major tournament debut at the 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup. She went on to play in the 2014, 2018, and 2022 editions of the tournament.

Lim played at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, where South Korea faced North Korea in the semi-final. Lim scored an own goal, and the match ended as a 1–2 loss for South Korea, ending their hopes of a gold medal. The side went on to beat Vietnam in the 3rd-4th place playoff to win bronze. Four years later, at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, South Korea once again reached the semi-finals, where they faced Japan. The score was level until late in the match, when Lim again scored an own goal, which sealed victory for the Japanese side, who went on to win the tournament.

Lim appeared in her first FIFA Women's World Cup at the 2015 edition of the tournament. She played in South Korea's group stage match against Costa Rica. She was also included in the squad for the 2023 World Cup despite an injury in the build-up to the tournament. She played in South Korea's opening group match against Colombia and was named in the starting eleven for the following match, against Morocco, but was replaced at the last minute by Shim Seo-yeon after experiencing pain in her leg during pre-match warm-ups.

In 2023, Lim became the seventh Korean woman to join the FIFA Century Club as she reached the milestone of 100 A match appearances.

Career statistics

International

+Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSouth Korea2009212010102011202012602013130201415020159020167220177020181022019602020002021812022130202360202410202540Total1106

Scores and results list South Korea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lim Seon-joo goal.

+List of international goals scored by Lim Seon-jooNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1Tainan County Stadium, Tainan, TaiwanNorthern Mariana Islands3–019–02010 EAFF Women's Football Championship qualifiers2Nagai Stadium, Osaka, JapanVietnam2–04–02016 Olympic Games qualifiers33–04Amman International Stadium, Amman, JordanPhilippines3–05–02018 AFC Women's Asian Cup5Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium, Palembang, IndonesiaIndonesia3–012–02018 Asian Games6Goyang Stadium, Goyang, South KoreaNew Zealand2–12–1Friendly

Honours

Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels

WK League Champions: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

South Korea Universiade

Summer Universiade Champions: 2009

South Korea U-20

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Third place: 2010

South Korea

Asian Games Third place: 2014

References

External links

Lim Seon-joo – Korea Football Association