Rival parties demand overhaul of nat'l football body following Korea's elimination
Captain Son Heung-min reacts after Korea's loss to South Africa in a Group A match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup held at Estadio Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico, Wednesday (local time). Yonhap
Rival political parties were united in their criticism of the national football governing body on Sunday in light of the country's elimination at the ongoing FIFA World Cup.
Representatives for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) called for a parliamentary probe into operations at the Korea Football Association (KFA).
Rep. Park Beo-kye of the ruling party took to Facebook to voice his displeasure after Korea, coached by Hong Myung-bo, missed out on a chance to sneak into the round of 32 earlier in the day.
"Out of patriotism, I was hoping the team would reach the round of 32," Park wrote. "This showed that what Korean football needs is not merely remodeling, but reconstruction."
Korea finished third in Group A with three points from a win and two losses and ended up 10th among 12 third-place teams — with the top eight from that group qualifying for the knockout stage.
The KFA and its outgoing leader, Chung Mong-gyu, have been subject to significant public backlash since hiring Hong in July 2024 for his second tour of duty with the national team. The National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee had summoned Hong, Chung and other KFA senior executives as witnesses in September that year, with lawmakers grilling them on what they believed was an unfair and opaque process to hire Hong.
"The KFA is the biggest enemy for Korean football," another DPK lawmaker, Song Young-gil, wrote on Facebook. "This outcome has been in the making since the 2014 World Cup (when Hong was also head coach). The hiring process wasn't fair in the first place. What Korean football needs the most right now isn't just bringing in a new head coach, but reforming the KFA. There must be major changes that can bring Korean football back to fans."
Rep. Kim Seung-su of the PPP argued that the KFA has to take responsibility for the national team's World Cup performance.
"In 2024, I pointed out problems with the process that led to the hiring of Hong Myung-bo as the national team head coach, and demanded responsible steps and reform by the KFA," Kim wrote in a Facebook post.
"But the KFA ignored people's concerns and it is now faced with the outcome that is being criticized. If I served on the sports committee, I would conduct a thorough review of the KFA's operations and hold the KFA accountable to ensure sports administration can become trustworthy and Korean football can bounce back."
President Lee Jae Myung chimed in on social media later Sunday, blaming the national team's elimination on an institutional failure at the KFA.
"I am really sorry to the people for letting them down with such a preposterous turn of events," Lee wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "I feel that missing the knockout stage at this World Cup was due to the failure with the organization and personnel decisions."
Lee took further shots at the KFA's leadership for hiring Hong.
"When you put an incompetent person in charge by prioritizing personal connections over abilities, then it's easy to predict how things will play out," the president wrote. "Such a nonsensical personnel decision that puts personal interest ahead of the common good is only possible because it's impossible or at least difficult to keep the person responsible for these decisions in check."
Lee pledged a swift reform of sports administration nationwide.
"Since participating in a World Cup requires a lot of taxpayers' money and other national resources, I would like to ask the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to identify and analyze the cause of the problem and prepare measures to prevent recurrences."