Jesse Marsch, who was considered a candidate for the head coach position of the South Korean national football team in 2024, expressed deep regret immediately after negotiations with the Korea Football Association (KFA) fell through, revealing that he had placed the South Korean team as his highest priority, it has been confirmed.
According to emails exchanged between a KFA official and Marsch in May 2024 obtained by the office of Democratic Party lawmaker Noh Jong-hee, Marsch wrote that he considered "the South Korean national team as the top choice" and conveyed his disappointment regarding the breakdown in negotiations.
Marsch explained that it was difficult for him to accept the national team head coach position under circumstances where tax and housing issues were hard to resolve.
He added that his "regret and disappointment are very great," stating, "I had looked forward to representing the great nation of South Korea at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America."
At the time of negotiations with the KFA, Marsch's annual salary from his previous team was reportedly around 5 billion won, or about 2 billion won on an after-tax basis.
While the KFA's National Team Committee evaluated Marsch at the time as a leader capable of achieving the best results at the 2026 North and Central American World Cup, negotiations ultimately broke down as the two sides failed to narrow their differences over issues including salary and taxes.
Marsch subsequently took charge of the Canadian national team, leading Canada through the group stage at the 2026 FIFA World Cup for the first time in the country's football history.
On the other hand, coach Hong Myung-bo, who took the helm of the South Korean national team instead of Marsch, suffered his second group-stage elimination—following the 2014 Brazil World Cup—despite leading a squad evaluated as having historically high-level capabilities.
As the negotiation process between Marsch and the KFA has been belatedly revealed, controversies surrounding the coach selection process and the breakdown in talks at the time are drawing renewed attention.
Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Choi Gang-san | Design by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
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