FC Seoul's Choi the latest Korean coach to make China switch

FC Seoul coach Choi Yong-soo (L) watches his team their during Asian Champions League soccer semi-final game against the Western Sydney Wanderers at Parramatta Stadium October 1, 2014. REUTERS/David Gray

(Reuters) - Choi Yong-soo has become the fifth South Korean coach in this season's Chinese Super League after agreeing a two-and-a-half year deal to move from FC Seoul to Jiangsu Suning, the Chinese club said on their website on Tuesday.

Choi, who led Seoul to the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League this year, will take over from July 1. He replaces Romania's Dan Petrescu, who was sacked earlier this month.

Choi, who became Seoul's full-time head coach in 2012, also guided the team to the K League title that year and a runners-up finish in the 2013 AFC Champions League.

He joins compatriots Chang Woe-ryong (Chongqing Lifan), Lee Jang-soo (Changchun Yatai), Hong Myung-bo (Hangzhou Greentown) and Park Tae-ha (Yanbian Funde) in China's top flight.

Jiangsu currently sit third in the championship, four points behind leader Guangzhou Evergrande.

(Reporting by Ian Rodricks in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)