Gyeongju Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Women's Football Club (), also known as Gyeongju KHNP WFC, is a South Korean

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...

club. The club was founded by

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP; ) is a subsidiary of the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). It operates large nuclear and hydroelectric plants in South Korea, which are responsible for about 31.56 percent of the country's electric power ...

in 2017 and competes in the

WK League The WK League (Hangul: WK리그) is a semi-professional women's football league, run by the Korea Football Association (KFA) and the Korea Women's Football Federation (KWFF), which represents the sport's highest level in South Korea. Icheon D ...

. They play their home games at Gyeongju Football Park.

History

Foundation

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power FC, a men's team competing in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

, had moved to

Gyeongju Gyeongju (, ), historically known as Seorabeol (, ), is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering with a population of ...

in 2013. In October 2016, the president of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd and the mayor of Gyeongju announced the formation of an attached women's team. The team was formally founded in March 2017 with 27 players and 5 coaches, including manager Ha Keum-jin, who had previously coached the under-20 women's national team in 2014 and the under-16 women's national team in 2015. They played their first match on 17 April 2017 against Boeun Sangmu.

Departure of Ha Keum-jin and KFA investigation

After finishing the 2017 season in seventh place, Gyeongju KHNP finished in second place in the regular league in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. Amid speculation over the sudden departure of manager Ha Keum-jin due to "personal reasons", the team beat

Suwon FMC Suwon FC Women (Korean language, Korean: 수원 FC 위민) is a South Korean Women's association football, women's football team based in Suwon. They compete in the WK League, the highest division of women's football in South Korea. History In ...

in the playoff semi-final to qualify for the two-legged championship final against Incheon Hyundai Steel. Despite leading 3–0 after the first leg at home, the final ended as a 4–4 draw on aggregate, and Gyeongju lost 3–1 in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

to finish as league runners-up. In early 2019, the club was investigated by the

Korea Football Association The Korea Football Association () is the governing body of football and futsal within South Korea. It sanctions professional, semi-professional and amateur football in South Korea. Founded in 1933, the governing body became affiliated with ...

after accusations of sexual misconduct by former manager Ha Keum-jin. After it emerged that the real reason for Ha's mid-season departure in 2018 was a dismissal due to sexual violence against a player at the club, KHNP was accused of a cover-up. The club denied this allegation. Following reports that Ha had previously been dismissed from the KFA in January 2016 due to sexual harassment, the Korea Women's Football Federation stated that Gyeongju KHNP had been unaware of this fact when they hired him the following year.

Chasing the WK League title

The

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

finished with Gyeongju and Suwon FMC in second and third place respectively, leading to a replay of the previous year's playoff semi-final. This time, Suwon won 2–0 and progressed to the final against Incheon Hyundai Steel. In December 2019, the club announced

Song Ju-hee Song Ju-hee (, or ; born October 30, 1977) is a retired South Korean football player and coach who is currently the manager of Gyeongju Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power WFC. Club career After graduating from Uiryesang Technical High School and K ...

as its new manager. From 2020 to 2022, the same three teams again finished at the top of the league table, with Gyeongju defeating Suwon to progress to the final against Incheon Hyundai Steel but ultimately finishing as runners-up in all three years. They finished the 2023 season in fourth place. The following year, they finished the regular league in third position and once again met Suwon FC (formerly Suwon FMC) in the playoff, which ended as a draw after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. Gyeongju lost 5–4 in the resulting penalty shoot-out after

Jang Sel-gi Jang Sel-gi (; born 31 May 1994) is a South Korean footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender or midfielder for Gyeongju Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power WFC, Gyeongju KHNP and the South Korea women's national football team ...

's attempt was blocked by goalkeeper Kim Kyung-hee.

Current squad

Backroom staff

Coaching staff

*Manager:

*Head coach: Lee Joo-seop *Coach: Kim Chang-hee *Goalkeeping coach: Kwon Ki-bo *Fitness coach: Noh Jae-hyun *Medical trainer: Lee Ji-yeon Source: Official website

Honours

::Runners-up (4): 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022

Season-by-season records

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyeongju Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power WFC Women's football clubs in South Korea Association football clubs established in 2017 WK League clubs 2017 establishments in South Korea