'The most cowardly Korean football figures' are not even Hong Myung-bo and Chung Mong-koo; they even managed to evade the hearing... 'Job-seeking abroad as a form of escape' → Vanished without a trace

*This content was translated by AI.

Although the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee's hearing on issues related to the KFA has concluded, anger over the irresponsible evasion by key figures who caused the paralysis of football administration is only intensifying further.

This hearing was held following the tragedy of elimination in the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America and Central America, aiming to verify the KFA's flawed administrative system and the unfairness of the coach selection process. However, some key figures, including former KFA Technical Director Lee Im-saeng who stood at the center of the controversy, did not appear on site, bringing their cowardly behavior under scrutiny.

Initially, the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee confirmed a list of hearing witnesses that included 13 current and former senior officials: former KFA President Chung Mong-koo, former coach Hong Myung-bo, former director Lee Im-saeng, former Jeon Ryeok-gang-hwa (Chairman) Jeong Hae-seong, and others. Although the law mandates attendance for witnesses, some individuals avoided appearing by making excuses.

Especially, the most cowardly figure is former director Lee Im-saeng. At the time of appointing former coach Hong, he emphasized, "I led the appointment alone. I will take full responsibility." He even shed tears during a previous National Assembly inquiry and expressed his intention to resign. However, just before the hearing where he was supposed to face the facts and accept the report card, he submitted a non-attendance form citing his recent appointment as Technical Director of Cambodian professional club Nagaworld FC and left for Cambodia. Instead of honoring his boastful promise to take responsibility, he fled under the shield of securing employment abroad.

This contrasted sharply with former coach Hong Myung-bo, who had stayed at his home in the United States but chose to make a direct breakthrough by appearing personally at the hearing venue while others who should have taken responsibility avoided the scene. Former coach Hong stated, "The responsibility for the World Cup results lies entirely with me as the coach. Therefore, if a hearing is held, I will bear the responsibility alone until the end." He indeed appeared at the hearing venue.

Regarding allegations of special treatment, former coach Hong explained, "I never requested any special treatment from the association and do not believe I received any," adding, "Since I was not a member of the Team Strengthening Committee, as someone who received and accepted a proposal, I could not know if I was appointed unfairly."

Even former coach Hong, having stepped down from his coaching position, responded to inquiries about ways to change the KFA's organizational culture by saying, "I don't believe that one person doing well is enough. It requires all football figures to make tremendous efforts and truly unite their strength to bring about change; I acknowledge this is a structure that won't change otherwise." He added, "These are indeed difficult matters, but I hope young people who join the association will come in and change these difficulties. If they realize how difficult reality is once inside, they will be able to make changes with greater responsibility. If such people work, changes will happen much faster and better."

Furthermore, during the hearing, testimony continued from former Jeon Ryeok-gang-hwa (Chairman) Jeong Hae-seong, who led the coach selection process before former director Lee. Former Jeon (Chairman) Jeong, who took over responsibility for appointing a new head coach after the dismissal of former coach Jurgen Klinsmann, faced difficulties, including failing to negotiate with foreign coaches such as Jesse Marsh and Jesus Casas, resorting to an interim coaching system until the June A-match, before suddenly resigning.

Former Jeon (Chairman) Jeong Hae-seong stated, "After being narrowed down to three final candidates, I was delegated the authority to determine rankings by the Team Strengthening Committee members," adding, "Accordingly, I decided former coach Hong Myung-bo as the first choice and two foreign coaches as second and third choices." He also claimed there were no external pressures or unfair instructions during the process of the Team Strengthening Committee's paralysis after his resignation.

Ultimately, after former Jeon (Chairman) Jeong resigned, former director Lee proceeded with appointing former coach Hong, causing the controversy over procedural unfairness to grow uncontrollably. However, at the hearing venue itself, the main figure responsible for the administrative disaster, former director Lee, fled to Cambodia as if escaping, resulting in a situation where the person who should have been questioned about the decisive circumstances of the selection paralysis was absent, leaving only half-hearted inquiries.

Former director Lee had previously been reported for perjury after it was revealed that he lied by claiming "we met and spoke alone" even though Vice President Choi Young-il accompanied him during a past inquiry on current issues. While he appealed to emotions at the National Assembly site and expressed his intention to resign, criticism is pouring in over the irresponsible behavior of non-attending figures, including former director Lee, who hid behind the shield of Cambodia at the very moment he was supposed to receive the final report card.

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*This content was translated by AI.