Documented path
Born in Pyongyang, North Korea, Pak Sung-hyok played for Sobaeksu Sports Club from 2009. He debuted for the North Korea national team in 2009 at age 19 and was selected for the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad, appearing in the East Asian Championship qualifiers. He played as a defensive midfielder and centre back.
Born in 1990 in Pyongyang, North Korea; he developed through the North Korean football system, playing for Sobaeksu in the DPR Korea League.
North Korean international footballer; plays for Sobaeksu in the DPR Korea League; current status not widely documented in international media.
Where the conditions came from
Each is placed on a −1 to 3 scale from documented evidence, and the three are never added together. A combined total would rank Pak Sung-hyok against other people. Held apart, they explain why this path ran differently from another one—which is the only comparison this project supports.
The marble itself
+1Tailwind
What capability, drive, or early skill is documented in the person rather than their surroundings?
No documented evidence of exceptional early ability, prodigy status, or unusual cognitive/physical endowment. Selected for national team at 19, suggesting competence but not extraordinary talent.
Where it was dropped
-1Active headwind
What money, family standing, network, or permission was already in place before the work began?
Very little documented about family background. Growing up in North Korea presents significant resource constraints, limited access to information, and restricted opportunities compared to most footballing nations.
The shape of the track
+1Tailwind
What place, timing, institution, or peer group made the next step available?
North Korean state football system and Sobaeksu Sports Club provided a structured pipeline to the national team. The 2010 World Cup qualification was a collective achievement. However, the North Korean sports system operates with significant resource limitations compared to elite global football.
A −1 is a documented headwind, not a missing value; a 0 means the sources record nothing notable either way. Annotation confidence: Low. These are analyst readings of what the sources record, not measurements of merit, talent, or effort. The twenty-two scored dimensions remain available inside the deeper research detail.
What moved through the conditions
This records repeated behaviour or recovery described by sources; it is not a grit or merit score.
This is an unchosen opening or condition in the record, not an estimate of how much luck caused the outcome.
Strongest documented signals: Elite institution pipeline, Direct domain exposure, Adversity / constraint catalyst.
Describes the starting position, not what the person later made of it.
Strongest observed levers: Started serious reps before 20, Complementary team, Domain proximity.
Measures what was present, not whether it was inherited, earned, self-built, external, or mixed.
The timeline below shows the sequence of work and transitions around the selected early milestone. It is evidence of a path, not proof that every step was necessary.
Notable, but primarily known within a niche. The tier summarizes documented career recognition through the data cutoff—not Pak Sung-hyok's worth or future potential.
Question four · where did the leverage come from?
Each non-zero lever gets a best-supported origin, evidence signals, and confidence. Unresolved is the honest default when the biography cannot distinguish self-built, advantage-enabled, earned, external, or mixed.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
A structural wave is external to the person, even when their position improved access to it.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
This is a bounded inference from the current annotations—not a claim about private effort, merit, or the percentage of Pak Sung-hyok's outcome attributable to any origin.
Structural luck, Encounter luck, Event luck, Outcome variance can change every arrow in the path. This successful-only dataset cannot observe the near-identical paths that did not break through, so luck stays visible and unscored.
Multiplying capacity documented later in the path. Measures what was present, not whether it was inherited, earned, self-built, external, or mixed.
Access or conditions documented near the beginning of the path. Zero means "no clear evidence in reviewed sources," not "advantage was absent."
Not documented in reviewed sources. No information available about family background, financial status, or parental occupation.
Not documented in reviewed sources.
Pak Sung-hyok's selection for the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad at age 20 was facilitated by the North Korean national football team system and his club Sobaeksu SC. Very little is documented about his early life, family background, or training pathway. Growing up in North Korea presented significant resource constraints and limited opportunities, which may have created urgency and discipline. His rapid progression from club to national team by age 19 suggests early specialization in football within the state sports system.
advantage confidence: Low · source count: 3 · audit: partial_source_verification · status: subagent_researched_beta