[Official] 'Led by Senior Reporter Hong Myung-bo - Guaranteed High Salary': Lee Im-saeng's Recent Status, Departing Korea to Serve as Technical Director at a Cambodian Club

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee Im-saeng (55), former Chief of Technical Affairs at the KFA, who was known to play a leading role during the appointment of Hong Myung-bo as head coach of the South Korean national football team in 2024, has left Korea to take up the position of Technical Director at a Cambodian club.

Cambodia's professional football club Nagaworld FC officially announced on the 6th (Korean time) the appointment of former KFA technical director Lee Im-saeng as its new Technical Director. Founded in 2001, Nagaworld introduced Lee as having a background including AFC Pro Coach Coaching courses and membership in the AFC Technical Committee, with coaching experience in Korea, Singapore, and China, as well as experience in developing national teams and elite football players, and participation in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Coincidentally, Lee Im-saeng's appointment as Technical Director at Nagaworld came shortly after a fierce backlash began to sweep Korean football following South Korea's elimination from the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America. After declaring his resignation on-site in Mexico, head coach Hong Myung-bo departed for Los Angeles, USA, where his family resides, just two days after returning to Korea amid intense public criticism. Jeong Mong-gyu, who had already expressed his intention to resign before the World Cup, also submitted his resignation letter. With this, former technical director Lee Im-saeng has now left Korea for Cambodia as well.

Lee Im-saeng was a key figure in leading the appointment of Hong Myung-bo as head coach of the South Korean national team. After Hong's appointment was finalized, he personally held a briefing on the background of the selection at Seoul Seongro Football Hall. At that time, the KFA's Power Strengthening Committee under Jeong Hae-seong (Chairman) selected four final candidates, and after Jeong (Chairman) resigned, Lee Im-saeng took over the process and ultimately finalized Hong's appointment as head coach.

At that time, former technical director Lee Im-saeng explained the background of Hong Myung-bo's appointment as follows: "Considering the playing style demonstrated at Ulsan, we judged that he would be suitable for establishing the football philosophy and game model that Korean football should pursue." He added, "Hong emphasized 'One Team, One Spirit, One Goal,' which is necessary at this point. Learning from the lessons of the previous two foreign coaches, we determined that discipline within autonomy was needed, and we judged Hong to be the right person to build a unified team."

Additionally, Lee Im-saeng noted that since Hong resides in Korea, he could identify K League players, achieved better results compared to foreign candidates, and possessed rich experience coaching national teams. "There is a salary difference between foreign coaches and Korean coaches, and we boldly requested this from the Football Association," Lee stated. "While I cannot disclose specific figures, I believe Korean coaches should now be treated no less than foreign coaches." It was also Lee Im-saeng who ensured Hong's salary, reportedly around 2 billion won (estimated), was guaranteed.

However, controversy soon arose over alleged unfairness in the process of appointing Hong Myung-bo as head coach. Lee Im-saeng appeared before the National Assembly to answer questions regarding the appointment process and faced criticism. When asked whether he had not received authorization from other members of the Power Strengthening Committee for the final decision, he responded emotionally: "This concerns my honor, so I will speak frankly. I am willing to resign." He continued, "I requested that I be allowed to make the decision and received approval from five members. While I am prepared to resign, I absolutely cannot agree with anyone who claims I did not receive consent without anger."

After stepping down as technical director, Lee Im-saeng had not appeared in public until recently, when renewed calls for accountability emerged alongside Hong Myung-bo's poor performance. Critics heavily criticized the fact that Lee's earlier praise of Hong — stating that "Hong employs a Ravolpiana-style formation with an asymmetric three-back system, effectively utilizing players' strengths to create diverse and positive outcomes in attacking third line-breaking, counterattacks, crosses, and wide combinations" — now seemed embarrassing. However, amidst South Korean football's severe turmoil following the World Cup elimination and the simultaneous resignations of Hong Myung-bo and Jeong Mong-gyu (Chairman), Lee Im-saeng's first official update since then was his appointment as Technical Director at a Cambodian club after leaving Korea.

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*This content was translated by AI.