Kim Hak-bum


Kim Hak-bum is a South Korean football manager.

Club career

Kim simultaneously joined K League club Goyang [KB Kookmin Bank FC|Kookmin Bank] in 1983 when playing for Myongji University as a defender. Kim played 13 matches at the 1984 K League, and participated in the Korean Semi-professional League after Kookmin Bank withdrew from the K League in 1985.

Coaching career

Kim retired as a player in 1992, and came back to the bank's football team as a coach after working as a bank clerk for a year. He received the best coach award at the Korean National Championship after helping the club win the tournament in his first year as a coach. He was also appointed a coach of the South Korea national under-23 team in 1995, helping them prepare for the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament|1996 Summer Olympics]. However, he had to return to the post as a bank clerk after the bank's football team was dissolved due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
In September 1998, Kim left Kookmin Bank, joining K League club Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma as assistant coach to manager Cha Kyung-bok. He contributed to Seongnam's three consecutive league titles between 2001 and 2003.

Managerial career

After manager Cha resigned from the club in December 2004, Kim became a successor to Cha. In 2006, he led Seongnam to their seventh K League title, and won the K League [Manager of the Year Award]. He also finished first in the regular season in 2007, but lost at the play-off finals. He was nominated for the AFC Coach of the Year award by advancing to the AFC Champions League semi-finals 2007 [AFC Champions League|that year]. He left the club at the end of the 2008 season.
In November 2010, Kim was appointed manager of Chinese Super League side Henan Jianye. He tried to improve players' stamina and possessive capability, and thought he was leading his team to a good direction. On the other hand, he failed to win a match in eight matches, and was sacked by the president of club's company.
In July 2012, Kim was appointed manager of Gangwon FC. He was sacked the next year due to his poor results.
In September 2014, Kim returned to Seongnam FC. He won the 2014 Korean FA Cup and was named the best manager of the tournament. On 15 August 2015, he achieved his 100th victory at the K League. In contrast with two previous seasons, he had difficulty in bringing results during the 2016 season, and was finally sacked in the middle of the season.
In August 2017, Kim signed with Gwangju FC. He did not prevent Gwangju from being relegated to the K League 2. Gwangju wanted to keep the contract with him, but he requested his resignation.
On 28 February 2018, Kim was selected as the manager of the South Korea under-23s. At the 2018 Asian Games – Men's tournament|2018 Asian Games], he suffered a shocking defeat to Malaysia in the group stage, but won a gold medal. He also won the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship, qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament|2020 Summer Olympics]. Prior to the Olympics, however, he tried to interfere in the senior national team to call up senior team players for friendlies, conducted tough physical training, and called up only one striker for the competition. The unbalanced selection and excessive training were followed by players' lack of stamina and quarter-final defeat to Mexico. He was nominated for the manager of the senior national team after the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but encountered opposition due to his attempt to exceed his authority and failure at the Olympics.
In December 2023, he started to manage Jeju United.

Honours

Player

Kookmin Bank

Manager

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
South Korea U23
Individual