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A total of 11 candidates for the next coach of the Korean national soccer A team, including four Koreans and seven foreigners.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) held the 5th Power Reinforcement Committee meeting behind closed doors on the morning of the 2nd and held a briefing for the Power Reinforcement Chairman in the lobby on the first floor of the soccer hall at 3:20 p.m.

Jeong Hae-sung, chairman of the Power Enhancement Committee, said, "At the 4th meeting on March 12, there was a list of candidates for supervision, which was collected by about 20 people. Since then, there have been recommended candidates, and there have been discussions on a total of 32 candidates today through review by the subcommittee," adding, "We decided to raise a total of 11 candidates for supervision through the fifth meeting, which lasted for three hours. Four domestic leaders and seven foreign leaders."

Plan to appoint an official supervisor by early to mid-May

The Korea Football Association replaced coach Jurgen Klinsmann in February when he was eliminated from the semifinals after a series of poor matches at the Asian Cup.

Afterwards, a new power enhancement committee was formed to search for the next coach. Jeong Hae-sung, chairman of the power enhancement committee who took up the new post, revealed a total of eight criteria for selection of a national team coach: tactical competence, development, cause, career, communication, leadership, human system and ability to produce results.

In March, interim coach Hwang Sun-hong was appointed in two consecutive A matches, and the team played the third and fourth matches against Thailand in the second Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA North-Central America World Cup.

Under Hwang, Korea tied with Thailand 1-1 at home, but secured a 3-0 win at an away game in Bangkok to maintain its lead in Group C (10 points). Adding just one more point in the two remaining matches will confirm its advance to the third qualifying round.

However, the Korea Football Association's Power Reinforcement Committee plans to have an official coach show up from the 2nd qualifying round and the 5th-6th game against Singapore and China in June.

"We will ensure that we can appoint new coaches by early to mid-May at the earliest," said Jeong Hae-sung, chairman of the power enhancement committee. "Korean coaches are currently in the process of playing in the league, and even those who are on the list of foreign coaches cannot afford to go there and see them." This implies that active K-League leaders are also included in the candidate list.

Regarding the foreign director candidate, Jeong Hae-sung, chairman of the Power Enhancement Committee, said, "We will contact the list we have and interview them non-face-to-face, and if we find the most suitable director first, we will go to the local area and face-to-face."