Yoon Jung-hwan, freshly minted as head coach of the football club Ulsan Hyundai, said Wednesday he will try to reshape the underachieving team into a "feared" one next season.Yoon was named as the new bench boss for the K League Classic side on Monday, replacing Jo Min-gook. Ulsan finished second in the league in 2013 but fell to sixth place in Jo's lone season. They managed just two victories in their final 12 matches.Yoon, who previously coached Sagan Tosu in Japan's top-flight J. League, said

Park Kyung-hoon, head coach of the South Korean football club Jeju United, stepped down on Wednesday with one year left in his contract, citing personal reasons.The K League Classic club announced that Park informed the team president, Jang Seok-soo, on Monday that he wanted to leave the bench because of health concerns. According to Jeju United, Park also said he wanted to return to teaching at Jeonju University in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, about 240 kilometers south of Seoul.Park, 53, too

Nexen Heroes’ second baseman Seo Geon-chang on Tuesday was voted by his peers as the top player of 2014 in South Korean professional baseball.Seo was the winner of the Player of the Year honors at the Players Choice Awards, presented by the Korea Professional Baseball Players Association, the interest group for players in the Korea Baseball Organization.Two weeks ago, Seo captured the league MVP award, as voted by the media, thanks to his historic season. (Yonhap)

Lee Jae-myung, owner of the South Korean football club Seongnam FC, was defiant on Tuesday in the face of possible punishment over his public criticism of officiating.Lee is also the mayor of Seongnam, located just south of Seoul, where the local government owns the K League Classic club. Lee will face a disciplinary hearing after writing on his Facebook page last Saturday that Seongnam FC had been a frequent victim of poor officiating this season, citing three specific matches.In a board meetin

BARCELONA (AP) ― Even with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar on the team, a growing number of Barcelona fans are restless for change.The discontent of the club members bubbled to the surface last weekend when the president and sports director were widely jeered by thousands of disgruntled fans. What the club had planned as a festive tribute video to Messi for breaking the Spanish league’s scoring record took an unpleasant turn when the taped congratulations from Josep Bartomeu and Andoni Zubi

Lee Jae-myung, owner of the South Korean football club Seongnam FC, was defiant on Tuesday in the face of possible punishment over his public criticism of officiating.Lee is also the mayor of Seongnam, located just south of Seoul, where the local government owns the K League Classic club. Lee will face a disciplinary hearing after writing on his Facebook page last Saturday that Seongnam FC had been a frequent victim of poor officiating this season, citing three specific matches.In a board meetin

A South Korean independent hockey club said Tuesday it has established the foundation for exchange with the reigning National Hockey League (NHL) champion Los Angeles Kings.The Waves, the Seoul-based hockey team founded in 2012, said its playing coach, Yoon Kuk-il, recently met with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in Seoul.According to Waves officials, Yoon presented Garcetti, a self-proclaimed "crazy fan" of the Kings, with a Waves jersey.During their meeting, Garcetti offered to help the Waves

South Korea's teenage golf sensation Kim Hyo-joo has signed a lucrative extension with her main corporate sponsor, Lotte Group, the conglomerate announced Tuesday.Lotte Group said it has re-signed the 19-year-old for five more years in a deal worth 1.3 billion won (US$1.2 million), along with performance-based incentives. With each victory, Kim will receive extra prize money worth 70 percent of the purse from Lotte. For a top-five finish, Lotte will give her a bonus worth 30 percent of the winni

South Korean baseball club Nexen Heroes announced Monday they’ve re-signed their 20-game winner Andy Van Hekken for his fourth season.The Seoul-based Korea Baseball Organization team said Van Hekken will return for $650,000 in salary, along with a $50,000 signing bonus and $100,000 in options. He made $350,000 this year.The 35-year-old left-hander is coming off his best KBO season, after going 20-6 with a 3.51 ERA and 178 strikeouts in 187 innings. (Yonhap)

BARCELONA (AP) ― Barcelona needed a stoppage-time goal by Sergio Busquets to secure a 1-0 win at Valencia on a day Spanish football was rocked by the death of a fan after a violent clash between rival supporters.A 43-year-old fan of Deportivo La Coruna died of injuries sustained Sunday in a street fight that broke out between Deportivo and Atletico Madrid supporters hours before their match in Madrid.Elsewhere in Europe, the defending champions in England and Italy both earned victories.Manchest

The national governing body of professional football said Monday it will retain the same structure for the top-flight competition next season, with clubs to be divided into two tiers in the fall.The K League said the 12 teams in the first-division K League Classic will each play 38 matches. They will first play 33 games from March 7 to Oct. 4, and then they will be split into the upper tier, or Group A, and the lower tier, or Group B, based on their records at that point.Teams will then play fiv

 Veteran striker Lee Dong-gook of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors was voted the MVP of South Korean professional football on Monday. The 35-year-old garnered 101 out of 112 votes to claim the top individual award in the first-division K League Classic, easily beating out FC Seoul defensive back Cha Du-ri, with six votes, and Suwon Bluewings' forward Santos, who had five. Lee finished second in the league to Santos with 13 goals and helped Jeonbuk win their third championship in six seasons.   Lee became