South Korea hope for Leverkusen U-turn on Son

South Korea's Son Heung-min (L) and Belgium's Steven Defour fight for the ball during their 2014 World Cup Group H soccer match at the Corinthians arena in Sao Paulo June 26, 2014. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea hope Bayer Leverkusen will release forward Son Heung-min for the latter stages of next month's Asian Games football tournament after the German side rejected a request to have him available for the entire competition.

"We received a letter from Leverkusen that Son won't be able to play in the Asian Games," the Korea Football Association (KFA) said on Wednesday.