Former South Korean football player Jang Hack-yong has been arrested for a match-fixing attempt, an official from the national pro football governing body said Sunday.

According to the K League official, Jang met a player, who is only identified by his surname Lee, at Asan Mugunghwa FC in the second division K League 2 on Sept. 21 and tried to lure the player to receive a red card within 20 minutes after kickoff in a match against Busan IPark FC on Sept. 22. Jang offered Lee 50 million won ($44,200) for accepting his proposal, but the Asan player rejected his offer, the K League official said.

"Lee called the police and reported it to his club immediately after he rejected Jang's offer," the K League official said. "The police then arrested Jang at a hotel in Busan."

The official said the K League tried to reveal the incident to the public when Jang was arrested last month, but to cooperate with the police's efforts to arrest Jang's accomplice, it had remained silent.

South Korea's pro football league was heavily damaged in 2011 when it was hit by massive match-fixing scandal. The K League since then has been focusing on preventing match-fixing attempts, running workshops and call centers.

"Jang reportedly told the police that it was his first time approaching players to fix a match," the official said. "This case is a good example of a K League member rejecting a match-fixing offer."

Jang was an energetic left back who made his pro debut in 2004 with Seongnam Ilhwa, now Seongnam FC. He also played for Seoul United and Busan IPark before hanging up his boots in 2017 at Seongnam.

Jang had five caps with South Korea. He made his international debut in January 2006 against the United Arab Emirates. (Yonhap)