Parliamentary hearing on football governing body postponed

The signboard outside the Korea Football Association House in Seoul, Nov. 6, 2024 / Yonhap

The parliamentary sports committee decided Thursday to postpone a scheduled hearing on the Korea Football Association (KFA) amid ongoing negotiations between the rival parties for the formation of the committee.

The National Assembly Committee on Culture, Sports and Tourism earlier voted to hold the hearing on July 22 despite a boycott by lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP).

No new date has been set for the proposed hearing, but the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said it will seek to hold the hearing before the end of this month.

The PPP has been boycotting all parliamentary committees in protest of the ruling party unilaterally appointing the chairs of 11 assembly committees.

"We have decided to postpone the hearing given that the negotiations between the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties are in their final stages," DPK lawmaker Lee Jae-jung, who chairs the committee, told Yonhap News Agency.

The proposed hearing follows the country's early exit from the ongoing FIFA World Cup.

The committee earlier said it would look into the controversy surrounding the management of the KFA and the process of appointing the former head coach of the national football team, Hong Myung-bo.

The sports committee earlier named 13 witnesses to attend the hearing, including the former national team head coach, who resigned shortly after the country's elimination at the World Cup, and former KFA President Chung Mong-gyu. Chung also stepped down earlier this month.