Korea Expressway Corporation's 'Another' Unusual Decision to Replace Winning Coach Kim Young-rae Promotes 'One-Year Contract As Acting Director'

*This content was translated by AI.

High Pass of Korea Expressway Corporation, a professional volleyball team that caused controversy over the replacement of Kim Jong-min (52) over the past decade, has decided to go to the 2026-2027 season as acting coach Kim Young-rae (45).

An official from the Korea Expressway Corporation told Star News on the phone on the 3rd, "It is right to consider signing an acting coach next season with head coach Kim Young-rae. "We are still cautious to proceed with the official coach, so we are proceeding with the contract as an acting coach," he said.

The unfamiliar word "agency contract" was largely due to the fact that the road corporation and the owner's position were still vacant. The existing president of the Korea Expressway Corporation Ham Jin-kyu retired in February due to the expiration of his term, and now acting president Lee Sang-jae is in charge.

There is also a big reason to give stability to the team ahead of an important match. The Korea Expressway Corporation will immediately play the second game of the championship match (best out of five) against GS Caltex at its home stadium, Gimcheon Gymnasium. Korea Expressway Corporation, which played the first game under acting coach Kim Young-rae, was at a disadvantage after losing to GS Caltex with a set score of 1-3.

Last month, the Korea Expressway Corporation confirmed the club's fourth regular league first place in eight years since the 2017-2018 season. However, he shocked the volleyball community by announcing the termination of his contract with Kim Jong-min, who led the Korea Expressway Corporation to the top on March 26, ahead of the championship match.

At the time, the Korea Expressway Corporation concluded its journey of the past 10 years with director Kim Jong-min. I deeply appreciate coach Kim Jong-min's dedication and performance for the team so far, he said. "I would like to express my apologies to the fans to report this news ahead of the championship game." I will do my best to repay you with good results before the championship game," he said.

It was very unusual for the top-ranked coach in the regular league to be dismissed and to be notified of the break-up without even playing the championship game. Moreover, on March 20, as the No. 1 team manager, the V League postseason media day was also attended, which was a big shock.

The background of the breakup is allegations of 'coach assault'. Coach Kim Jong-min was accused of assaulting coach A during a meeting with him in November last year over the poor performance of foreign players at his accommodation. The Korea Expressway Corporation said, "There was an unsavory matter that the prosecution summarily prosecuted in late February over the assault and defamation case against coach A. "After much consideration, I decided not to renew the contract with coach Kim Jong-min," he explained.

The decision came before the court ruling and the official disciplinary action of the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) came out, so it did not gain sympathy. In addition, criticism from inside and outside the volleyball community was loud in that he was the head coach who had been in partnership with the Korea Expressway Corporation for 10 years.

Manager Kim Jong-min led the heyday of the Korea Expressway Corporation after taking office in March 2016. He led the team to its first unified championship in the 2017-2018 season and the championship game in the 2022-2023 season. In particular, the victory from 2022-2023 was praised for defeating the top teams one after another as the third place in the league and making a reverse sweep of Kim Yeon-koung's Heungkuk Life in the championship game.

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*This content was translated by AI.