Korea's football reckoning may yet turn World Cup disaster into reform

Former national football team head coach Hong Myung-bo, right, answers lawmakers' questions while former Korea Football Association (KFA) President Chung Mong-gyu listens during a parliamentary hearing on alleged irregularities involving the KFA at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

Hong Myung-bo’s second spell in charge of Korea’s national team started amid jeers and boos at Seoul World Cup Stadium in September 2024. It ended with his resignation in late June and what followed was a reckoning just a few kilometers down the Han River at the National Assembly building in Yeouido. As a head coach, you know something has gone wrong on the football field when you end up in parliament.

What is going to happen in this crazy summer of Korean football? In June, there was a trip to Mexico to play in the World Cup and it went badly with early elimination. Other teams suffered the same fate but nowhere else was the head coach’s next appearance at a parliamentary session as lawmakers on the National Assembly's sports committee fired questions at him.

It may well be the last public appearance for Hong. Back then, after the 2002 World Cup, he was a genuine legend. He was the captain of the team that reached the last four and stepped down from international football after four tournaments. Now, he stepped down from football in general, as one of the least popular people in the country.

Hong should not be too shocked however. There was an unhappiness at the way he was hired in 2024 with former Korea Football Association (KFA) boss Chung Mong-gyu going outside the usual regulations to hire Hong for a second coaching stint. Fans booed Hong in his first game in charge in Seoul, and anger was not just confined to fans after his last game in Guadalajara, a dismal defeat to South Africa.

It could be said that if there was such interest shown in Korean football all the time instead of once after four years, then the national team would probably be in a better state. Care also needs to be taken. FIFA may have its attention elsewhere at the moment given the issues at the top but the world governing body takes a dim view of politicians getting too close to how the game is governed.

Much has been said, Hong and Chung spent hours defending themselves and perhaps it was necessary in the end to try and get a clean break, a new start with some new faces. Hong said, "It is perfectly fine to be critical (of the KFA) from the outside, but I think that once they realize how tough things are on this end, then they will be able to bring about changes with a stronger sense of responsibility."

"This is not an easy environment, but if people with experience in football come over and start working here, I think Korean football will improve more quickly," Hong added.

It was part excuse and part call to action. It has been noteworthy how famous players tend to go and work in the media and comment on all the goings-on in football. Former FIFA World Cup hero Park Ji-sung has stepped in to help with a reform committee that will, hopefully, help bring about change at the KFA to make it more transparent and accountable.

If that is what happens, then the summer of 2026 could end up being a new beginning for Korean football, and while the World Cup will always be a painful memory, it may end up being a positive one.