Kim will manage the two national teams under a contract lasting from May 1, 2024 to March 3, 2026.

The contract will be signed in Hanoi on May 6, and the new coach will also make his debut on the same day.

Over the past weeks, VFF has made contact with potential candidates, including Kim, and they both reached consensus on a two-year contract during a working session on May 3.

Kim’s first task is to lead the national football team to the last two matches of the second qualifying round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in June, 2024.

He will then train his players during the FIFA Days between September and November in preparation for the 2024 ASEAN Cup – Mitsubishi Electric Cup in late November and the third qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup in March 2025.

Meanwhile, the Vietnam U23 team will play at the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup qualification in September 2025 and then the 33rd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in December 2025.

Kim was a mid-fielder and had many times played for the national RoK team. He helped Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors win the 2021 Korean Football Championship (K-League) and win the 2022 Korean FA Cup. He was awarded the K-League excellent coach of the 2021 football season and the Korean Football Association’s excellent coach of the year 2022.

However, Kim was fired in early 2023 because of Jeonbuk’s poor start, winning three out of 10 matches.

Kim was chosen following Philippe Troussier’s departure in last March. Under the French coach’s reign Vietnamese football fell into its worst slump. They suffered 10 losses out of 11 matches, including seven consecutive losses in official matches. Vietnam also dropped out of the top 100 on the FIFA rankings.

Kim’s decision to go to Vietnam was greatly influenced by his successor Park Hang-seo, who had achieved the greatest results in Vietnam’s football history.

During his five-year career in Vietnam, Park led Vietnam to second place in the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Asian Cup, first place of the 2018 ASEAN Football Confederation (AFF) Cup, quarterfinals of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, and champions of the 2019 and 2021 Southeast Asian Games.

Park also led Vietnam to the final qualifiers for the 2022 Qatar World Cup for the first time in history.