In 2008, following his return to form and his participation in Suwon Bluewings' triumphant season, Cho gained the attention of the new head coach Huh Jung-moo and got some new satisfactions at an international level: despite not always being a first choice in Huh's team (especially during the second half of the year), he featured in many of the matches regarding World Cup qualifiers and became one of the protagonists in South Korea's success at the East Asian Football Championship in Chongqing, where he played the entirety of the finals (a 3-2 win against China and a couple of 1-1 draws against North Korea and Japan).