Former head coach of South Korea’s national football team Cho Kwang-rae said Friday he has taken legal steps against the sport’s national governing body to receive unpaid wages from his earlier contract.

“Through my legal representative, I sent the Korea Football Association a certification of contents demanding that it pay me my outstanding wage,” Cho said.

“I didn’t want to resort to legal measures but I didn’t want to leave a bad precedent for other football coaches in this country.”

Cho was fired by the KFA in December last year during the penultimate stage of the Asian qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

In November 2011, South Korea was upset by Lebanon 2-1 and was in danger of missing out on the final qualification round.

South Korea eventually advanced to the final stage under new head coach Choi Kang-hee.

Cho was dismissed with six months left on his contract.

Cho had earlier demanded that he be paid for the duration of his contract, while the KFA countered that it would only pay a portion of his outstanding wage.

It wasn’t immediately clear how much money Cho is owed. Cho said if he is not paid by Jan. 9 of next year, he could file a claim for compensation.

Cho added that he was disappointed the KFA has failed to pay him, and that the current KFA leadership, under chairman Cho Chung-yun, should handle the matter before a new chairman is elected on Jan. 28 next year. (Yonhap News)