[단독]‘Hakbeomson’ coach Kim Hak-beom returns to the K-League after 6 seasons as Jeju head coach

Sports | soccer

[스포츠서울 | 박준범기자] Coach Kim Hak-beom was selected as the new head coach of Jeju United.

According to an official familiar with the K-League, coach Kim Hak-beom will return to the K-League. He is expected to lead Jeju starting next season.

Jeju was relegated to K League 2 in the 2019 season, but returned to K League 1 a year later. Coach Ki-il Nam, a ‘promotion evangelist’, was appointed, and the front office was replaced on a large scale, succeeding in improving the team’s constitution. Even after returning to K-League 1, Jeju continued to advance to Final A (sixth round).

However, Jeju was not satisfied with the semifinals. They set an ambitious goal of advancing beyond the semi-finals to advance to the Asian Champions League (ACL) and defeating the so-called ‘two greats’ of Ulsan Hyundai and Jeonbuk Hyundai. However, he experienced ups and downs under Coach Nam, who entered his fourth year this season. Jeju was fighting for second place at one point this season, but it continued to go downhill after that. The slump continued, and Jeju decided to part ways with coach Nam last September.

Coach Jeong Jo-guk, who was the head coach, served as acting head coach for the remainder of the season. There was no big twist. Although they avoided relegation, they finished the season with an unsatisfactory 9th place.

Jeju decided on a broad group of candidates and began the selection process. He left many possibilities open. Acting Director Jeong, who led the team after Coach Nam stepped down, did not possess a P-level leadership qualification, making it difficult to appoint him. Several former and current directors were on the candidate list. It was reported that coach Kim Eun-joong, who served as coach of the U-20 national team, was also included in the candidates.

In the end, Jeju’s choice was Kim Hak-beom. Jeju is expected to take a leap forward next season with a new head coach. Jeju is still a club that is not stingy with investment. Last season, player salary spending ranked third. There are plenty of resources that will be effective in K League 1 across all positions, including Lim Chae-min, Choi Young-jun, Jeong Woon, Lim Chang-woo, and Lee Joo-yong.

Coach Hak-Beom Kim is a leader with a lot of experience. He went through all the so-called prenatal hardships. He also participated in the age group national team. Since 2018, he has served as coach of the under-23 (U-23) national team. He won a gold medal at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games.

They also took the top spot for the first time in the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship. It was overwhelming enough to win the championship with 6 wins. However, at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he was frustrated in the quarterfinals. Coach Kim left the national team after the Tokyo Olympics. Afterwards, he was appointed as a K League ambassador.

Above all, it is the first time in six seasons that Coach Kim returns to the K-League. Coach Kim has not coached a K-League club since resigning from Gwangju FC in November 2017. Coach Kim previously took charge of Gangwon FC and Seongnam FC. He was later included in the list of candidates for the head coach of several clubs, but did not take charge of a K League club. Coach Kim has a style that leads the team with strong charisma. Attention is being paid to how Director Kim can change Jeju, which needs a ‘turnaround’. beam2@sportsseoul.com