Gyeongnam FC boss Cho replaces Huh Jung-moo, who stepped down after guiding the Asian side to the second round of the World Cup finals in South Africa last month.
"We had been looking into two or three candidates, including Cho, and the technical panel unanimously opted to select Cho as the next national team coach," chairman of the KFA's technical committee Lee Hoi-taek told the Yonhap News agency.
"Cho is enterprising and always trying to catch new trends of world football like England, Germany, Italy and Brazil."
"It's a great honour to be the national team coach," Cho, 56, said.
"I'm not scared of taking the helm of the national team. I've been working hard to be a good leader. I want to make a team that will bring joy to the Korean people."
Cho's first major task will be to win the Asian Cup in Qatar, which begins in January.
"Cho asked us to allow him to hold two posts, but we concluded he can't," Lee said, giving the new manager until the friendly match against Japan on October 12 to quit his club position.
