Updated

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea coach Huh Jung-moo has ended the World Cup dreams of four of his players, cutting them from his provisional squad for South Africa.

Center backs Kang Min-soo and Hwang Jae-won as well as midfielders Cho Won-hee and Kim Chi-woo were all deemed surplus to requirements, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Huh, who made the cuts in the wake of a 2-0 warm-up victory over Ecuador last Sunday, will trim his squad by a further three players before the final 23 names are submitted to FIFA by the June 1 deadline.

South Korea, semi-finalists on home soil in 2002, face Argentina, Greece and Nigeria in Group B at the June 11-July 11 tournament.

(Writing by Nick Mulvenney in Beijing; Editing by John O'Brien)