Tottenham star Yang Min-hyeok achieved something on Saturday that will have major repercussions on his career, but he has had to issue an apology after making some controversial comments.Yang won a gold medal at the Asian Games after South Korea beat Japan 1-0 in the final on Saturday.The result means that the Tottenham man and his U23 teammates are now exempt from 18-month military service, which is mandatory for all able-bodied men in South Korea before the age of 28.Government exemptions are granted to gold medalists at the Asian Games and all Olympic medalists, with Yang and his teammates now only needing to complete a few weeks of basic training and some community service after Saturday’s win.Photo by Lampson Yip/Lampson Yip/Clicks ImagesTottenham youngster Yang Min-hyeok controversially admits military service exemption was the main goalSpurs fans will remember that club legend Heung-min Son also won gold in 2018 in Indonesia, and the forward was emotional after the final, as it meant his career at the highest level did not need to be interrupted.In fact, South Korea have now won gold at the Asian Games four times in a row, with the military service exemption clearly being an important motivator for their players.The 20-year-old Spurs man admitted as much in a post-match interview, insisting that the gold medal was not as important as the military service exemption.Yang is quoted as saying to The Korea Times (as relayed by The Standard): “We were being compensated, and the compensation was military exemption, so it feels like we played with that one thing in mind. Honestly, whether it was a trophy or a medal wasn’t important.”Yang apologises for offending South Koreans with his commentsIt appears Yang’s comments did not go down well in his home country, with his words being perceived as him downplaying the importance of winning gold.The Spurs winger has now clarified that winning gold for his country was special and made it clear he never intended to belittle the efforts of those who are required to do military service.Yang wrote on social media (via