The national football federation on Wednesday rejected a media report that former men's head coach Guus Hiddink could be back at the helm, saying it will stick to the current boss Shin Tae-yong through next year's FIFA World Cup.

Citing a source close to Hiddink, a South Korean news channel reported earlier that the Dutchman, who guided South Korea to the semifinals at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, is willing to return to his old job "as long as the Korean people wanted him back."

The report came out only hours after South Korea clinched a spot at the 2018 World Cup with Shin at the helm in Uzbekistan. Shin only took over the reins two months ago following Uli Stielike's ouster and coached the final two matches in the last Asian qualifying round. Shin is signed through the 2018 World Cup and will coach until South Korea are eliminated.
 

And a high-ranking official at the Korea Football Association said Shin isn't going anywhere for now.

"I don't understand why Hiddink's name has popped up after we qualified for the World Cup," the official said. "Our official stance is that we'll respect the terms of our contract with Shin."

The official added the KFA will offer Shin full support to prepare for the World Cup in less than a year's time.

"We'll seek to improve the national team's competitiveness with Shin at the center of it all," he said. "Once Shin returns home, we'll identify our problems and seek solutions to them." (Yonhap)