'Hong Myung-bo shock' → Government finally draws its sword: "We will form a committee to conduct a thorough investigation and hold those responsible strictly accountable." Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young makes promise

*This content was translated by AI.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young announced that the Ministry would conduct a thorough investigation into the South Korean national football team's failure to advance from the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.

_NAME_0_ returned home after concluding the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Tourism Ministers' Meeting on the 28th, and via social networking services (SNS) stated in response to President Lee Jae-myung's instructions: "We will swiftly and decisively push for sweeping reforms across all aspects of football administration with a resolve to cut deep, so that the hope and pride of all citizens can be revived."

_NAME_0_ emphasized, "We will form a committee of experts to thoroughly investigate the causes of this deplorable result, and we will hold those found to be incompetent or negligent during the process strictly accountable."

He further promised, "We will provide strict administrative guidance to ensure that the Korea Football Association is operated transparently and fairly by football professionals, allowing it to fulfill its original role and functions, and we will establish a system to enable public monitoring and checks."

He added, "Taking this setback and pain as an opportunity, we will not spare investment and support to enable a fundamental review and redesign of the Korean football paradigm, from our youth development system to strengthening referee capabilities and providing advanced technological infrastructure."

Finally, he stated, "We will continue to run without stopping until the day when South Korean football can proudly command the world stage once again."

Earlier on the same day, President Lee Jae-myung wrote on his SNS regarding the failure of the Hong Myung-bo team to reach the Round of 32: "As the former honorary professional football club manager and a spiritual Red Devil, I feel not only surprised but utterly bewildered by this unexpected result. The failure to qualify for the World Cup finals, which left the nation feeling empty, appears to be a failure of organization and personnel decisions."

President Lee continued, "This once again proves that personnel decisions determine everything. When incompetent individuals are appointed as commanders because they are prioritized over ability based on personal connections, the outcome is as clear as day. The possibility of appointing unqualified personnel who cannot distinguish between public and private interests, and who prioritize private gain over public welfare, exists because monitoring, checks, and accountability for those with personnel authority are impossible or difficult."

President Lee further stated, "Given that significant national funds and state support capabilities are invested in World Cup participation, we hope the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will carefully oversee the accurate situation analysis, cause investigation, and measures for prevention and improvement of this incident. We deeply apologize for causing such great disappointment to the people with this absurd situation. We will swiftly promote sports administration reforms to prevent such incidents from recurring."

President Lee said, "Ultimately, all organizations require democratic composition, control, and the alignment of authority and responsibility. We have instructed administrative guidance to introduce direct elections for all relevant sports personnel in sports organizations such as the Korean Olympic Committee and the Korea Football Association, rather than the current system of indirect election by a narrow group of representatives, similar to changing the composition of NH Bank executives to direct election by members. We understand that this is being implemented well."

Finally, President Lee remarked, "Establishing a strict monitoring and check system to ensure transparency, fairness, and objectivity in operations, and ensuring that individuals bear corresponding responsibility for their actions and results, are also important tasks." He then encouraged, "Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young and all relevant public officials have worked hard."

Meanwhile, under the leadership of coach Hong Myung-bo, South Korea achieved one win in Group A of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, defeating Czech Republic 2-1 in a comeback victory. However, they suffered consecutive losses to Mexico and South Africa, finishing third in the group with one win and two losses (3 points, goal difference -1). Under the tournament rules, which expanded the number of participating teams to 48, the top eight teams among the 12 third-placed teams from each group could advance to the Round of 32. However, only one of the scenarios South Korea had hoped for materialized, and the team ultimately finished the tournament in 10th place.

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*This content was translated by AI.