Renowned Korean manager Kim Hak-bum to lead Jeju next
Published: 05 Dec. 2023, 13:27
Updated: 05 Dec. 2023, 15:59
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- PAIK JI-HWAN
- [email protected]
![Then-U-23 national team manager Kim Hak-bum waits for the kickoff for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship match between Korea and Uzbekistan at Thammasat Stadium in Thailand on Jan. 15, 2020. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2023/12/05/78c5325b-b8ee-4f43-92e6-42df1ae71cdc.jpg)
Then-U-23 national team manager Kim Hak-bum waits for the kickoff for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship match between Korea and Uzbekistan at Thammasat Stadium in Thailand on Jan. 15, 2020. [YONHAP]
Former Olympic football team manager Kim Hak-bum will helm K League 1 side Jeju United next season, the club announced Tuesday.
Kim is an experienced manager who led multiple K League teams such as Seongnam FC, Gangwon FC and Gwangju FC in the 2000s and 2010s.
He saw some success with Seongnam, winning the K League 1 in 2006, before taking charge of the club again in 2014 and winning the Korean FA Cup that year.
Kim then took the helm of the U-23 national team in 2018 and won a gold medal with the Asian Games squad that year, granting the team military exemption that could otherwise interfere with the players’ careers.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min and Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae were two of the members that earned exemption in 2018.
Kim Hak-bum continued his career as U-23 national team manager after the Asiad, although he failed to secure another medal with the Olympic team in 2021. The U-23 side lost to Mexico in the quarterfinals in Tokyo.
Since his contract with the U-23 team expired in 2021, he has not taken a managerial role at any team.
Jeju’s call to sign Kim comes as the club barely managed to finish outside the relegation zone in the K League 1 this season.
The club struggled overall during the season, despite climbing up to fifth at one point, finishing in ninth place on the 12-team table to avoid promotion-relegation playoffs.
The last-place K League 1 team faces direct relegation to the K League 2, while the K League 1’s 10th and 11th place clubs play promotion-relegation playoffs against K League 2 clubs to decide which teams face relegation or earn promotion.
Jeju’s struggle in the second half of the season even prompted then-manager Nam Ki-il to resign in September. Interim manager Jung Jo-gook led Jeju for the remainder of the season.
BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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