Hong Myung-bo has been named head coach of the South Korea team a decade after he last held the post, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.
The Korea Football Association tapped the 55-year-old for the permanent role after sacking Juergen Klinsmann in February following the team’s semi-final exit from the Asian Cup, where they had been a favourites for the title.
Hong led South Korea for 19 games between 2013 and 2014, finishing after their group stage exit at the 2014 World Cup.
The former defender is widely considered one of the greatest players in South Korean football history, and captained his country to the semi-finals at the 2002 World Cup, which the country co-hosted with Japan.
Capped 136 times, he scored the decisive penalty to beat Spain in the penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals.
He arrives back with the national team having led Ulsan HD to back-to-back K League 1 titles in the past two seasons, and has left with the side second, one point behind Gimcheon Sangmu FC, with 17 matches left this season.
Local media reported that technical director Lee Lim-saeng would hold a press conference on Monday to discuss Hong’s appointment.
Hong’s first job will be to guide the side through the third round of the Asian World Cup qualification kicks off in September.
South Korea 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, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
