Jeju United head coach retires

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, took over Jeju in 2009, after previously coaching South Korea’s under-17 national team from 2004 to 2007. He’d signed a five-year extension at the end of 2010.

Jeju finished 14th among 15 clubs in 2009 but Park took them to second place in 2010, and earned himself his first and only Coach of the Year honors that year.

This season, Jeju finished fifth among a dozen clubs.

The club said it will try to name Park’s successor as soon as possible. (Yonhap)