To reach the decision to appoint Mr. Hwang Sun-hong as interim coach, the Strengthening Committee chaired by Mr. Chung Hae-sung held 3 meetings on February 21, 24 and 27. Conflicting opinions from 10 senior officials of Korean football continuously appeared, causing the KFA to have a "headache" in choosing a successor to coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
After a meeting lasting more than 2 hours on February 27, Mr. Chung Hae-sung announced: "Olympic team coach Hwang Sun-hong will be the interim coach of the Korean team, in charge of the 2 upcoming matches against Thailand in the 2023 World Cup qualifiers."
Mr. Chung Hae-sung explained why KFA chose coach Hwang Sun-hong instead of considering coach Park Hang-seo as well as candidate Hong Myung-bo: "Coach Hwang Sun-hong is someone who understands the personality and ability of the Korean national team players. He is also the one who helped the Korean youth team achieve good results at the Asiad. This helped coach Hwang Sun-hong become the interim coach of the Korean national team. KFA pays great attention to the feelings of fans and does not want to cause controversy when appointing a coach who is working in the K-League or any other coach."
Coach Hwang Sun-hong was chosen because of his understanding of Korean players.
Before the meeting on February 27, coach Hwang Sun-hong was not the person the KFA was targeting for the position of interim coach of the Korean team. Instead, Mr. Hong Myung-bo - coach of Ulsan Hyundai was the number 1 candidate. However, the team currently playing in the K-League refused to "release" him and Mr. Hong Myung-bo also admitted that he had not contacted the KFA.
“It was really hard to talk about it,” the Ulsan Hyundai coach said. “I was constantly mentioned as a candidate for the coaching position in the media, which made me uncomfortable. I didn’t know anything about it, and it was the hardest time.
I have not had any contact with the KFA, all information is fabricated. I love the players and fans of Ulsan Hyundai and have already outlined all plans for the upcoming K-League."
Mr. Hong Myung-bo claims he has never been approached by the KFA.
As coach Hong Myung-bo said, the KFA has never approached him to make any offer. Immediately, the Korean media turned their attention to coach Park Hang-seo. The former captain of the Vietnamese team received great support from Korean fans and the OSEN newspaper confirmed that Mr. Park-Hang-seo reached an agreement with the KFA. With the current situation of the Korean team, the coach born in 1957 is considered the most reasonable choice.
However, the Korean media was also “offside” when the KFA announced that Hwang Sun-hong was the one chosen. OSEN questioned the KFA’s unexpected decision: “Today, a heated debate broke out over who would be chosen as the interim coach between the top candidates, Coach Park Hang-seo and U.23 Coach Hwang Sun-hong. As a result of a two-hour meeting, the Power Enhancement Committee selected Coach Hwang Seon-hong.
There are problems in the KFA's selection of coaches. The preparation for the Paris Olympics and the 2026 World Cup qualifiers are overlapping. Coach Hwang will lead the Olympic team to the AFC U-23 Championship in Qatar in April while South Korea will also face Thailand in March.
In terms of time, it is clear that Mr. Hwang Sun-hong cannot handle this kind of work in parallel. It is difficult to understand why Coach Hwang Sun-hong was mentioned as a candidate for the interim coach position from the beginning. In contrast, Mr. Park Hang-seo was not chosen.
Coach Park Hang-seo is considered the most suitable for the Korean team at the moment but was not chosen.
Korean fans were also worried about the KFA's decision to choose coach Hwang Sun-hong. However, Mr. Chung Hae-sung quickly reassured his home fans by stating: "After the second meeting (February 24), I contacted the KFA and proposed that coach Hwang Sun-hong would be the temporary person to hold this job. Coach Hwang Sun-hong also asked for time to think and finally accepted on February 26. Although it was urgent, I hope everything will be fine. If any incident occurs, I, as Chairman of the Strength Enhancement Committee, am ready to take responsibility."
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