Photo: Culture Minister Choi Hui-yeong (center) and football legend Park Ji-seong (right) at the K-Football Innovation Committee. Credit: Choi Hui-yeong.
The South Korean public spiraled into rage as its best squad in decades - featuring international superstars like the LAFC winger Son Heung-min 손흥민, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Lee Kang-in 이강인 and Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae 김민재 - flamed out of the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup with an embarrassing loss to South Africa. President Lee Jae-myung 이재명 대통령 joined the chorus, calling it “an organizational and human resource failure” on the part of the Korea Football Association 대한축구협회.
The KFA, which receives nearly half of its KRW 130b (USD 87m) annual budget from the government, has long been accused of corruption, favoritism and factional politics, leading to the hiring of two disastrous managers, Jurgen Klinsmann and Hong Myeong-bo 홍명보 in consecutive years. Hong and KFA president Jeong Mong-gyu 정몽규 (who had held the leadership position since 2013) both resigned shortly after South Korea failed to advance out of the group stage. Hong has since left for Los Angeles, claiming that his family was receiving death threats.
On July 9, the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture and Sports 국회 문화체육위원회 announced that it will hold a hearing into the KFA’s management on July 22, focusing on the fairness and transparency of the manager selection process. The hearing will also feature members of the newly formed K-Football Innovation Committee 케이축구 혁신위원회, including Park Ji-seong 박지성 and Lee Yeong-pyo 이영표, two legendary footballers who took the Korean side to the semifinals in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
