Lee Lim-saeng (born November 18, 1971) is a South Korean former footballer who played as a defender. He is currently the technical director of Cambodian Premier League club Nagaworld.
Playing career Lee mostly played his club career for K League club Bucheon SK, and won three Korean League Cups. He also played for South Korean national team at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Managerial career On 26 December 2009, Lee was appointed head coach of Singaporean club Home United. The club finished the S.League twice as runners-up, and won the Singapore Cup twice. On 5 December 2014, he resigned from the club.
On 12 April 2015, Lee started to manage China League One club Shenzhen F.C., who sacked predecessor Li Yi at the time. Lee was replaced by fitness coach Li Haiqiang on 27 August after bringing 17 points in 19 league matches.
Lee worked as a coach at Chinese Super League club Yanbian Funde under manager Park Tae-ha during the 2016 season before joining the same league's Tianjin TEDA as a coach and reserve team manager. On 2 June 2017, he was promoted to caretaker manager, succeeding Jaime Pacheco. On 7 July, he signed a permanent contract with the club despite gaining only one win in five matches. He failed to get a win in six subsequent matches until resigning on 14 August.
On 3 December 2018, Lee became manager of K League 1 club Suwon Samsung Bluewings. In 2019, his team finished eighth among 12 clubs at the league, but won a Korean FA Cup title. On 17 July 2020, he resigned from Suwon due to his poor results during the 2020 season.
Administrative career Lee worked as a technical director at the Korea Football Association between November 2017 and June 2018. On 18 January 2023, he returned to the association's same position. He was not a member of the committee in charge of finding a new manager of the national team, but was instructed to negotiate with foreign candidates by president Chung Mong-gyu in June 2024. He traveled to Spain and Germany early in July, meeting Gus Poyet and David Wagner respectively. Just after coming back to South Korea, however, he went straight to a neighborhood, where Ulsan HD manager Hong Myung-bo was living, and one-sidedly begged Hong to manage the national team. His attitude towards Hong was in contrast with his examination of the two foreign candidates, who gave their presentations, and he was greatly criticised for his cronyism. He also did not notify the candidates of the result before announcing Hong's appointment, causing more controversy.
Had been inspected by South Korea government, Lee worked at Cha Bum-kun's football academy until June 2026 after leaving the association in 2025. He left for Cambodia two weeks after South Korea managed by Hong was eliminated in the group stage at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He joined Cambodian Premier League club Nagaworld as a technical director at the same time.
Career statistics Club +Appearances and goals by club, season and competition Club Season League National Cup League Cup Total Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps GoalsBucheon SK1994K League130—001301995K League180—602401996K League170??502201997K League00??20201998K League170??902601999K League252??903422000K League293??1023952001K League31??801112002K League242??51293Total1468??54320011Busan I'Cons2003K League29000—290 Career total1758??54322911
Honours Player Bucheon SK Korean League Cup: 1994, 1996, 2000+
South Korea U20 AFC Youth Championship: 1990
South Korea B Summer Universiade silver medal: 1993
Individual K League All-Star: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 K League 1 Best XI: 1998, 2000
Manager Home United Singapore Cup: 2011, 2013
Suwon Samsung Bluewings Korean FA Cup: 2019
Individual Korean FA Cup Best Manager: 2019
Notes
References
External links
Lee Lim-saeng at KFA