Two head coaches in South Korea’s top soccer league resigned on Wednesday, as the revolving door for bench bosses continued to turn in the offseason.

Lee Heung-sil, the interim head coach for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the K-League, resigned from his post after one season, the club announced on Wednesday.

Later Wednesday, Yoon Sung-hyo quit as the head coach of Suwon Samsung Bluewings, and Seo Jung-won, his senior assistant, was immediately promoted as the new head coach.

Lee and Yoon are among five K-League coaches out of 16 to lose their jobs in the past month. Daegu FC and Daejeon Citizen decided not to renew their coaches, Moacir Pereira and Yoo Sang-chul, and Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma accepted a resignation offer from Shin Tae-yong.

Jeonbuk announced that Lee informed the team that he would quit and the club decided to take his offer.

Lee led the team, based in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, to second place in the 16-team K-League in 2012 with 22 wins, nine losses and 13 draws.

Though they led the competition with 82 goals scored, Jeonbuk finished 17 points behind the champion, FC Seoul.

Lee, a former assistant for Jeonbuk, took over the club in December last year, when incumbent Choi Kang-hee was named the head coach of the South Korean national team.

Upon taking the reins of the national squad, Choi declared he will return to Jeonbuk in June next year, after the end of the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

According to a Jeonbuk official, Lee, by resigning, wanted to make way for Choi to return next year.

“We as a club recognized Lee’s leadership and coaching abilities, and tried to persuade him to stay,” the official explained. “Lee Chul-kuen, our general manager, also spoke to him in our last meeting Sunday, but Lee Heung-sil was adamant.”

Lee Chul-kuen said nothing has been decided on who will succeed Lee Heung-sil on the Jeonbuk bench, but he’s leaning toward promoting a coach within the organization “for the sake of stability.”

Hours after Lee Heung-sil’s resignation, Yoon Sung-hyo walked out on Suwon with six months left on his contract. Suwon wasted little time in naming his successor, signing Seo Jung-won to a three-year deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Seo, 42, was an All-Star player for Suwon from 1999 to 2004, and helped the team win K-League titles in 1999 and 2004 and also capture the Asian Club Championship ― currently the AFC Champions League ― in 2001 and 2002. 

The former national team striker represented South Korea at the 1992 Olympics and the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups. The well-traveled Seo also played for pro clubs in France and Austria. 

(Yonhap News)