After firing Jurgen Klinsmann on February 16, South Korea has started looking for a new head coach as the second round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup returns at the end of March. However, the Korea Football Association (KFA) will have to think carefully when selecting the new coach after rushing to appoint Klinsmann, leading to widespread criticism of KFA president Chung Mong-gyu .
The candidates for the hot seat are all national coaches: Hong Myung-bo (Ulsan Hyundai), Kim Hak-bum (Jeju United) and Kim Gi-dong (FC Seoul). However, recruiting any of them at the moment would affect the clubs since the new season will start next month. Another candidate is Hwang Sun-hong, but he is expected to coach the U23 team in the 2024 U23 Asian Cup, an Olympic qualifying tournament.
Osen’s solution is to find a temporary option to take over the team until June, which is the right time to appoint an official coach. The newspaper considers Park Hang-seo a reasonable option for the national team.
Park has not coached any club since leaving Vietnam in January 2023. Currently, he is an advisor to Bac Ninh FC in Vietnam’s second football division, with a contract valid until January 2029, but he does not will have no difficulty returning to his position as coach.
“Coach Park is in discussions with several federations and clubs,” said the DJ management company. Osen. “But it’s all still in the proposal phase, so we can’t decide yet.”
The 66-year-old coach has repeatedly stated that he will no longer coach Vietnam and South Korea, his home country, in the future. But Osen He believes that could change if Park only becomes South Korea’s coach for three months.
He added that with five years of experience in Southeast Asia, Park is familiar with Thailand, the opponent South Korea will face on March 21-26 in World Cup qualifying.
“South Korea cannot let down their guard against the strongest team in Southeast Asia,” Osen wrote.
Park’s leadership ability during his time in Vietnam is also expected to restore discipline and team spirit to the South Korean national team, which has been in chaos after the recent conflict between Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in.
“Unifying the team right now is more important than strategy and tactics,” Osen a Korean Football Association (KFA) source cited.
On Tuesday, Park’s former assistant coach with the Vietnam national team, Lee Young-jin, was officially selected by the KFA to join 11 members of a committee tasked with improving the national football team .
This may be an advantage for Park since he and Lee have worked together for many years. However, committee chairman Chung Hae-seong, former technical director of Vietnamese club HAGL and former coach of HCMC FC, does not have a good relationship with Park.
