SEOUL – Disgraced football figures on July 30 apologised for the South Korean men’s national team’s group-stage elimination from the World Cup.
They were summoned to a parliamentary hearing on alleged corruption in the Korea Football Association (KFA), including the hiring process for its head coach.
The figures in the hearing, however, denied allegations of nepotism linked to Hong Myung-bo’s controversial appointment as head coach of the men’s national football team in 2024.
At the hearing held by the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, former KFA chair Chung Mong-gyu said: “I am sorry for the series of controversies and the poor performance in the 2026 World Cup.”
Chung, who resigned shortly after South Korea’s World Cup failure, added: “As the KFA chair, I feel a deep sense of responsibility and am deeply sorry for failing to meet the expectations of the public and football fans.”
Hong, who led the national football team but quit after the World Cup elimination, also offered an apology.
“As the coach, I want to express my apologies and gratitude to the players who played until the end despite the difficult situation (in the World Cup),” he said.
“I feel a heavy responsibility for my failure to repay the players’ efforts with results.”
Under Hong’s leadership, South Korea’s national team failed to advance to the round of 32 in the 2026 World Cup.
The team, who included star players Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in and Kim Min-jae, did not advance from the group stage as one of the best-eight third-placed sides after losing 1-0 to South Africa.
The KFA had faced criticism for the past two years after it bypassed due process when appointing Hong as head coach in July 2024. The KFA was accused of hiring Hong after skirting the KFA National Teams Committee, which nominates the national team’s head coach.
Instead, Lee Lim-saeng, a KFA official who was not a member of the National Teams Committee, was found to have played a role in offering Hong the position.
Just before the announcement, then National Teams Committee chief Jung Hae-seong abruptly resigned after just four months.
Later in July 2024, Park Joo-ho, a former football midfielder who was on the National Teams Committee at the time, revealed that some of the committee members had informally ruled out Gus Poyet, David Wagner and Jesse Marsch from the candidates list behind closed doors.
This fuelled speculation that nepotism was at play in the KFA’s decision to name Hong as the manager, as Hong’s journey as national-team head coach had ended in failure in the 2014 World Cup, when South Korea were eliminated in the group stage.
Some had also suspected that Hong had received preferential treatment when earning the coaching licence needed to lead the national team, but Hong denied those speculations.
“I thought the KFA’s offer had undergone a normal process at the time I received the offer,” he said in the hearing.
Lee Lim-saeng’s offer “might seem opaque from people’s point of view”, but Hong said he “never pursued any personal interest” as he took the head-coach position.
The controversial KFA figure was not present at the hearing, as he was recently named technical director of NagaWorld FC, a professional football club in Cambodia.
Chung, who headed the KFA for four consecutive terms over 13 years, also denied the allegations.
According to Chung, the KFA National Teams Committee led by Jung recommended Hong as the top candidate. Jung had stepped down while Chung was pondering the decision, he added. In the meantime, Lee took over Jung’s role and completed the process for Hong’s appointment.
The July 30 hearing was the latest in the fallout from South Korea’s elimination from the 2026 World Cup.
President Lee Jae Myung, soon after the South Korean team were eliminated, called for the government’s “accurate analysis of the situation of its causes”.
As part of the reform push, a government-sponsored panel led by former footballer Park Ji-sung has targeted the KFA’s mechanism, in which fewer than 200 football figures had voting rights.
Some suspect that the structure has allowed Chung to serve multiple terms and let unfair practices take root in the organisation. The panel suggested on July 27 that voting rights be given to 10,000 figures.
Chung, who has retained his roles in FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation, said his roles there will be in the hands of the KFA governing body.
Chung also said the parliamentary hearing would not have been held if South Korea had advanced to the round of 32. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK