Hong Myung-bo returns to helm Korean men's national football team

The legendary defender is returning to manage the men's national team with about two years to prepare for the 2026 World Cup.

Hong Myung-bo, seen in a file photo from Nov. 21, 2023, is named new head coach of the Korean men's national football team Sunday. [YONHAP]

Hong Myung-bo, who led Ulsan HD FC to the past two K League 1 titles, was named the new head coach of the Korean men's national football team on Sunday.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said its technical director, Lee Lim-saeng, will hold a press conference Monday to further discuss Hong's appointment.

Hong, 55, previously managed the team from 2013 to 2014, a tenure that ended with a group stage exit at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

He is signed through the 2027 Asian Football Confederation's Asian Cup, which will run from Jan. 15 to Feb. 8 that year in Saudi Arabia. The KFA will have a midterm performance review after the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Hong is the first Korean national to officially take the top men's national team job since Shin Tae-yong coached the country at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

The KFA has finally landed on a coach following a mostly frustrating search that had dragged on for nearly five months. The organization fired Jürgen Klinsmann on Feb. 16 after Korea lost in the semifinals of the Asian Cup, and then cycled through two caretaker managers for four World Cup qualifying matches — two in March and two more in June.

The KFA had initially set out to name a full-time replacement for Klinsmann by mid-May at the latest, but leading candidates either took another job or stayed in their current positions.

Lee, thrust into the lead in the search for a coach after Chung Hae-sung abruptly stepped down on June 28 as head of the National Teams Committee, had traveled to Europe on Tuesday to interview foreign candidates. The list included a pair of former Premier League coaches, David Wagner and Gus Poyet.

After coming home, Lee met with Hong on Friday to make his pitch, and the former captain of the national team accepted the offer Saturday evening, according to the KFA.

Hong is widely considered one of the greatest players in the country's footballing history. The former defender captained Korea to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup, which the country co-hosted with Japan, and scored the decisive penalty to beat Spain in a quarterfinal shootout. Hong won 136 caps for his country.

In his post-playing career, Hong carved out a successful coaching career. Most notably, he coached the Under-23 Korean men's side to the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. It remains the only Olympic football medal for the country.

He took over the senior men's national team about a year away from the 2014 World Cup, where he experienced his first failure as coach as the team crashed out of the group stage in Brazil with one draw and two losses, after which he stepped down.

Hong later dabbled in administration and served as an executive director for the KFA from 2017 to 2020.

He returned to coaching ahead of the 2021 K League 1 season, tasked with ending Ulsan's long championship drought. They finished in second place in his first season before finally capturing their first title in 17 years in 2022.

Ulsan then defended that title in 2023 and are currently in second place, one point back of Gimcheon Sangmu FC at 39, with 17 matches left this season.

Hong appeared to reject the KFA's earlier offer last Sunday. In a media scrum before a K League 1 match, Hong criticized the KFA's inability to find a suitable coach, and told Ulsan supporters not to worry about his possible midseason departure.

Chung Hae-sung and his National Teams Committee had reviewed dozens of foreign candidates, but finances at the KFA were believed to have been an issue.

The KFA is constructing a new headquarters in the central town of Cheonan and has taken out 30 billion won (US$22.7 million) in loans to cover rising construction costs. The KFA also owes Klinsmann and his former staff substantial sums of money for terminating their contracts early.

Jesse Marsch, the ex-Leeds United head coach who was on the shortlist, ended up taking the Canadian men's national team job after talks with the KFA fell through, apparently over the financial terms of the offer.

There was a disconnect between what the organization could afford and the desired experience and pedigree of a foreign coach, with some options from overseas as well as locally available within budget but lacking the qualifications sought by the KFA.

Chung stepped down over apparent differences with the upper management at the KFA, with its president, Chung Mong-gyu, believed to favor a foreign manager. The end of that power struggle seemed to indicate that the KFA was close to hiring a foreign national, and Lee Lim-saeng's recent trip to Europe to interview candidates also gave weight to the assumption.

However, Lee quickly turned to Hong, and successfully persuaded him to leave Ulsan's "three-peat" bid and right the national team ship.

When Hong's name first entered the rumor mill in February, the KFA faced criticism from supporters of Ulsan and the rest of the K League for attempting to poach an active club coach just before the start of the new season. By plucking Hong off Ulsan in the middle of this campaign, the KFA will almost certainly receive backlash from club football fans for its lack of respect for the domestic league.

For his first tour of duty with the national team, Hong had only about a year to prepare for Korea's World Cup campaign. This time, he will have about two years of runway.

The third round of the Asian World Cup qualification kicks off in September. Korea will face Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Oman and Kuwait in Group B. The top two teams from each of the three groups will punch their tickets to the 2026 World Cup.

It wasn't immediately clear exactly when Hong will leave Ulsan and take the national team reins. Kim Gwang-guk, CEO of Ulsan HD FC, said he will need further talks with the KFA to determine that timing.

Ulsan have two matches coming up this week: on Wednesday against Gwangju FC and on Saturday against FC Seoul, followed by a weeklong break.

Yonhap