The Suwon Samsung Bluewings holding midfielder has been carrying a troublesome groin injury and has reportedly decided to undergo surgery to cure the problem, ruling him out of the competition which gets underway on July 7.

Suwon official Oh Geun-Young told the Korea Times: "We will set a date for Kim's surgery soon.

"We found that he had been playing in pain for quite some time and it would take at least a month before he can train again."

South Korea begin their Group D campaign on July 11 against Saudi Arabia before taking on Bahrain and co-hosts Indonesia, and the news is another blow to coach Pim Verbeek's plans having already lost English Premier League stars Park Ji-Sung, Seol Ki-Hyeon and Lee Young-Pyo to injury.

Nicknamed 'The Vacuum Cleaner', 30-year-old Kim has 75 caps to his name and his physical presence and cultured passing style will be sorely missed.

Kim was one of the stars of South Korea's surprise run to the World Cup semi-finals in 2002.

He also featured in the less spectacular 2006 campaign and was named captain by Verbeek in August last year.