The midfielder (pictured top) was barred from the podium ceremony at Wembley Stadium following South Korea's 2-0 Olympic bronze medal win over Japan a few days earlier after he had held up a sign referring to a territorial dispute between the Asian neighbours.

The disputed Dokdo islands, controlled by South Korea but also claimed by Japan, lie equidistant from the two countries and are believed to contain frozen natural gas deposits potentially worth billions of dollars.

FIFA, world football's governing body, immediately opened disciplinary proceedings against Park while the Korean Olympic Committee asked him not to attend official functions on its behalf.

But South Korea's Olympic coach Hong Myung-Bo refused to join the clamour of condemnation and said Park deserved to collect his medal.

South Korea's footballers celebrate earning a bronze medal in the London 2012 Olympics

National coach Choi Kang-Hee has now named Park in his squad for the Asian pool qualifier against Uzbekistan in Tashkent on September 11.

South Korea will gain automatic qualification for the 2014 finals in Rio by finishing first or second in its group

"I watched the games during the Olympics," Choi said.

"The assessment is that Park is good enough to play in the national team.

"Park is tough as a midfielder and has a lot of movement, defensively he's aggressive and we don't have a player like that in the national team."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
August 2012: Let Park receive his Olympic medal, insists South Korean coach
August 2012: Park Jong-Woo to be exempt from military service despite FIFA probe
August 2012: South Korean footballer barred from Olympic medal ceremony after politics row