Career in Belgium In July 2000, Seol joined a Belgian club
Royal Antwerp. He became the second South Korean footballer to score in double figures during a season in Europe, following
Cha Bum-kun. After a successful season with Royal Antwerp, Seol moved to
Anderlecht in the same league. He scored a hat-trick in the space of 12 minutes in the
2001 Belgian Super Cup. He also became the first South Korean player to score in the qualifying round of the
UEFA Champions League. He won the
2003–04 Belgian First Division with Anderlecht.
Wolverhampton Wanderers In August 2004, Seol moved to England, joining a
Championship club
Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Wolverhampton manager at the time,
Glenn Hoddle, preferred Seol as one of his first-choice forwards, Disappointed by the failure of Wolves' promotion, Seol sought Premier League clubs interested in him before the
2006 FIFA World Cup despite having two years left on his contract. He was reported as saying "At this stage, I'm frustrated not to be in the Premiership. I think there will be some good news after the World Cup."
Reading Seol eventually joined newly promoted Premier League club
Reading on 12 July 2006 for a reported transfer fee of £1.5 million. He was voted the Reading Player of the Month for August by fans after showing great performances early in the season. On 16 September 2006, he scored his first Premiership goal in a 2–1 win over
Sheffield United. On 1 October 2006, he scored his second goal for Reading in a 1–0 win over West Ham United. His third goal for Reading, his first at home, came on 18 November 2006 in the 2–0 win against
Charlton Athletic. However, his performance was not consistently kept during the rest of the season. He scored his fourth goal in the last game of the season against
Blackburn Rovers.
Fulham Seol left Reading for Fulham on 31 August 2007 for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract, with
Liam Rosenior going the other way. Reading boss
Steve Coppell admitted that strained relations between him and Seol led to the move. After his manager
Lawrie Sanchez was replaced by
Roy Hodgson, Seol wasn't chosen as Hodgson's player during the rest of the season. He scored his first goal for Fulham in a 2–1 defeat to
Hull City on 16 August 2008, but he still didn't show something special the next season. On 14 January 2009, he signed an initial six-month loan move to
Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia with a view to moving permanently. However, he stated that he desired to stay at Fulham to win his place in the squad at the end of his loan deal. Seol scored his second goal for the club in a Europa League qualifier against
FK Vėtra on 30 July 2009, but he failed to made a twist for his status. He announced his retirement on 2 March 2015 in order to become the interim manager of
Sungkyunkwan University. His retirement ceremony took place in a friendly match between South Korea and
Jamaica on 13 October 2015. ==International career==