Montenegrin striker Dejan Damjanovic of FC Seoul was voted the MVP of South Korea’s top soccer league Monday, while his head coach, Choi Yong-soo, was honored as coach of the year as the 2012 K-League champion club dominated the awards ceremony.

At the year-end festivities held at a Seoul hotel, Damjanovic earned 92 of 116 votes from the media to become only the third foreign-born player to win the K-League MVP since the league’s inception in 1983.

The 31-year-old led the competition with 31 goals, a new single-season record, as he helped FC Seoul win its second K-League championship in three seasons.

“Unbelievable. I don’t know what to say,” Damjanovic said in accepting the trophy. “I just want to say thanks to my family, my teammates, coaches for believing in us and our fans who supported us all season. And now we’re going to enjoy this.”

Lee Dong-gook, a striker for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors who finished second behind Damjanovic with 26 goals, came in a distant second in the MVP voting with 19. Kwak Tae-hwi, a defensive stalwart for Ulsan Hyundai Tigers, earned five votes.

Damjanovic is also the first K-Leaguer ever to lead the league in scoring in consecutive seasons. He was the top scorer last year with 24 goals. He has been playing in South Korea since 2007.

For the top coach award, Choi Yong-soo received 78 of 116 possible votes, while Ulsan’s Kim Ho-gon got 29 votes.

Choi replaced Hwangbo Kwan as an interim head coach in April of last year, guiding FC Seoul to third place, and became the full-time head coach this year.

Choi enjoyed a historic season himself. He became the first person to win the K-League title as a player, an assistant coach and a head coach for the same franchise. (Yonhap News)