Korean head coach Park Hang-seo is the first coach in Vietnamese football to receive the State's Labour Order, second class.

The awards ceremony took place at the Vietnam Football Federation's headquarters in Hanoi on August 27.

Park's two assistants, Lee Young-jin and Kim Han-yoon, were also honoured with the Vietnamese Prime Minister's Certificate of Merit at the same ceremony.

The honours recognized their significant contributions to local football in recent years.

Park Hang-seo's two assistants, Lee Young-jin and Kim Han-yoon, are also honoured with the Vietnamese Prime Minister's Certificate of Merit

Park Hang-seo first took over as head coach of the Vietnamese national team in October 2017. Under his guidance, both Vietnam's U22 team and the senior national side have enjoyed dramatic improvements, recording a series of outstanding results.

Most notably, 2019 saw coach Park and the U22 team achieve two of their goals in the same year, i.e. qualifying for the 2020 AFC U23 Championship finals and securing a gold medal in the men's football at the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games).

The Korean expert also helped Vietnam claim a second-place finish at the AFC U23 Championships held in China back in 2018. This was the first of many successes which include winning the 2018 AFF Cup, progressing to the final four of the 2018 ASIAD, a quarter-final finish at the 2019 Asian Cup, and topping Group G in World Cup qualification.

At present, Park and his U22 men are working hard to prepare for the 31st SEA Games Vietnam will host next year.