"I don't want to make an excuse," said Lee Jungkyu Lee, the new director of Gwangju. My goal is Final A"

*This content was translated by AI.

Jungkyu Lee, the new coach who took the helm of Gwangju FC, expressed his strong determination.

Gwangju held a press conference for the new coach Jungkyu Lee at 1:30 p.m. on the 4th at the press conference room at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium. Coach Jungkyu Lee, who led the team's golden age as Gwangju's head coach for the past three years, is now at the helm himself.

According to the club, Jungkyu Lee said in his inauguration speech, "I feel a great sense of responsibility," adding, "We will create a direction for the team to grow one step further while maintaining the system that Gwangju has accumulated."

Coach Jungkyu Lee began his leadership path as a head coach at Wooseok University and served as coach of Asan in Chungnam and E-Land in Seoul. Gwangju appointed Jungkyu Lee, the head coach who knows the club well, to replace Lee Jung-hyo (current Suwon Samsung).

On the same day, Gwangju announced that it had completed the selection of coaching staff for the 2026 season by recruiting coach Kim Kwang-seok, coach Lee Sang-yong, goalkeeper coach Kim Byung-gon, physical coach Park Geun-young, and analysis coach Kim Ki-hyun.

Coach Jungkyu Lee served as Gwangju's head coach from 2022 to 2024 and shared the scene of the club's history by winning the K League 2, winning direct promotion, achieving the third place in the K League 1 and advancing to the AFC Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) for the first time.

At the press conference, Jungkyu Lee said, "We will show soccer that owns space and actively presses," adding, "We will maintain the big framework of the existing system but go through detailed supplementation." In particular, in off-season training, I will focus on building an aggressive defense system instead of a conservative defense," he vowed.

However, Gwangju is subject to restrictions on player registration this season. Coach Jungkyu Lee said, "I don't want to make an excuse because of the restrictions on reinforcing the team. If we focus on training and tactical preparation, we can show enough competitiveness," he said, expressing his will to break through head-on. Oh Ha-jong, Park Won-jae, and Lee Yun-seong, who have already been recruited, plan to start adapting to tactics in advance with the goal of putting them in June.

In particular, coach Jungkyu Lee predicted a thorough use of his skills. Coach Lee Jung-kyo said, "Everyone competes fairly regardless of age. Opportunities are created at the training ground, and I believe in training, not in name," he said, signaling an infinite competition system.

Jungkyu Lee's primary goal is to advance to Final A. Earlier, coach Jungkyu Lee said, "I have a philosophy of sticking to the process rather than the result. If you focus on the process, good results will follow naturally," he said, expressing confidence.

Coach Jungkyu Lee, who has finished the selection of coaching staff and the team's meeting, will leave for Thailand on the 5th for the first winter training and begin the 2026 season in earnest.

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*This content was translated by AI.