On Tuesday morning the Korean Football Association announced that Dick Advocaat would be the new coach of their national team, three weeks after his fellow countryman Jo Bonfrere resigned from the post.

Advocaat, a former manager of the Netherlands, was only appointed as manager of the United Arab Emirates in mid-July, but has left the post in order to take the Taeguk Warriors to Germany 2006.

"Mr Advocaat will officially take charge on 29 September," Cha Young, an official from the technical department of the KFA, told FIFAworldcup.com. "We are glad to have a new national team coach and we hope our side will be able to emulate our past achievements under the new manager.

"Advocaat is the third Dutch coach with the senior national team but actually the fifth with all national teams that we have employed to date. Apart from Hiddink, Bonfrere and Advocaat, we also have had Abraam Braam and Robert Albert who have coached our junior teams. Whoever is in charge, the most important factor is that the manager is able to produce good results."

According to an official from the KFA's international department, Advocaat's contract will run at least until the final match of next year's FIFA World Cup™ finals in Germany next summer.

Smooth negotiations
Since the departure of Hiddink in 2002, the KFA have searched for a new manager on no fewer than three separate occasions. And whoever has been at the helm has found that expectancy levels have risen dramatically since the South Koreans' fourth-placed finish in the FIFA World Cup three years ago.

However, in Advocaat, the KFA believe that they have a man who can help the team recapture former glories and they have been boosted by the fact that the former PSV Eindhoven and Rangers manager was so quick to sign a contract.

"We contacted Mr Advocaat on 5 September and negotiations went rather smoothly," said Cha Young. "He responded positively to our invitation from the very beginning and after exchanging a few emails, the two sides reached a consensus that led to the basis of the contract."

Advocaat's assistant will be Pim Verbeek, a familiar name to South Korean fans as he worked as Guus Hiddink's number two during the last FIFA World Cup.

"Mr Verbeek has fond memories of our national team and he has always looked to help our national team whenever possible. With his help, there wasn't much difficulty for the two sides to reach the agreement," Cha Young added.

Korea Republic go Dutch once again
The third Dutch coach in charge of Taeguk Warriors following Hiddink and Bonfrere, Advocaat was chosen ahead of Berti Vogts and Phillipe Troussier for the vacant position.

Advocaat has excellent international experience. He led the Netherlands to the quarter-finals of USA 1994 and the semi-finals of EURO 2004. He then went on to coach Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach, but left after only six months in charge before he took up the UAE job in July.