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Volleyball legend calls for second V league division to strengthen team, develop more talent

Published: 20 Oct. 2025, 17:20 Updated: 20 Oct. 2025, 17:35

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

Kim Yeon-koung, center, poses for photos with her parents at her retirement ceremony at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on Oct. 18. [NEWS1]

Korean volleyball legend Kim Yeon-koung has called for the need to establish the second division in the V League in order to grow more talent and bolster players’ performances, which have recently fallen short on the international stage.

Kim, 37, voiced that the Korean women’s national team has struggled in international tournaments in the absence of a long-term player development program, according to a report from JTBC, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, on Monday.

The national squad not only failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics last year, but did not also stand on the podium at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, which marked the first time the Korean women's team failed to medal in the Asiad since 2006.

The V League, however, has not made significant changes to its system despite a streak of failures. The league still has seven teams without a promotion-relegation system, and does not operate reserve teams for nonregular picks as of 2025.

Kim has constantly advocated a more competitive and systemic league in which a larger pool of players can secure more playing time in order for the national team to have a wider range of options to choose from.

The national squad enjoyed some success when led by Kim herself, with the team having reached the semifinals at the Olympics twice in 2012 and 2021. But the group has taken a steep downhill turn since her retirement from national duty: the team lost every Volleyball Nations League match in 2022 and 2023, won only twice out of 12 matches in 2024 and salvaged just a single win in the tournament this year.

Kim fully retired from volleyball in April after her storied 20-year career, during which she spent time playing in Japan, Turkey and China, clinching five V League titles — in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2023 and 2025 — in addition to four championship trophies in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2025 with the Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders in Korea.

Kim has been featured in MBC's volleyball-themed show “The Wonder Coach,” as a head coach since her retirement, where she coaches the Pilsung Wonderdogs with the goal of making the squad a pro team and entering the V League. The Wonderdogs consist of expelled players from the V League or retired players, who look to play in the pro league again.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]