Ex-Malaysia manager Kim Pan-gon takes over Ulsan HD

Kim was rumored to be a replacement for former Ulsan boss Hong Myung-bo. Hong was announced the new Korean national team manager on July 7 despite previously indicating he would reject the offer.

Then-Malaysian national team manager Kim Pan-gon speaks during a press conference in Doha, Qatar on Jan. 24 ahead of a 2023 AFC Asian Cup match against Korea. [YONHAP]

Former Malaysian national team manager Kim Pan-gon has been named the new Ulsan HD boss, the K League 1 club announced Sunday.

The appointment comes after Kim resigned from the Malaysian national team post on July 17.

Kim, 55, was rumored to be a replacement for former Ulsan boss Hong Myung-bo. Hong was announced the new Korean national team manager on July 7 despite previously indicating he would reject the offer.

Kim takes charge of Ulsan in the middle of the 2024 K League 1 campaign, where the defending champions sit in fourth place on the 12-team table as of Sunday.

The veteran manager coached Malaysia since the start of 2022, famously earning the country their first Asian Cup point since 1980 by holding his native Korea to a 3-3 draw at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup earlier this year.

Prior to taking that role, Kim spent five years at the Korea Football Association where he served as vice president, head of the reinforcement committee and technical director. There, he served alongside Hong, who was general secretary of the KFA. The pair were directly involved in the appointment of former Korean national team manager Paulo Bento.

Kim previously managed the Hong Kong national team from 2009 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2017. He also had assistant manager spells with Gyeongnam FC and Busan IPark.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN, JIM BULLEY [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]