The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is pushing for a parliamentary hearing on the Korea Football Association (KFA). The move comes after the national soccer team failed to advance to the round of 32 at the 2026 World Cup in North and Central America — its worst-ever result — prompting an examination of the head coach selection process and the association's overall operations.
According to political sources Tuesday, the Democratic Party is considering holding a plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee on Friday to table a proposal to adopt a plan for a hearing on the KFA. If the hearing takes place, it is expected to scrutinize the selection processes of former head coaches Jürgen Klinsmann and Hong Myung-bo, both of which had sparked controversy, as well as the operation of the National Team Reinforcement Committee and the association's decision-making structure.
According to the results of a targeted audit of the KFA conducted earlier by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Klinsmann's appointment in February 2023 was made while the National Team Reinforcement Committee's functions had been neutralized. It was also confirmed that when Hong was subsequently appointed, Lee Im-saeng, then the KFA's technical director who had no authority to appoint a coach under the regulations, recommended coaching candidates and that the interview process was conducted opaquely.
For this reason, calls are gaining traction within the Democratic Party to designate KFA Chairman Chung Mong-gyu and former coach Hong as key witnesses. The party argues that it must examine the appropriateness of the coach selection procedures and determine responsibility for the failures in team management.
One variable, however, is the strong backlash from the People Power Party. After the Democratic Party unilaterally elected the chairs of 11 standing committees, the People Power Party responded by submitting resignation letters from lawmakers belonging to those committees. Negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties are not proceeding normally in the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee either, which could delay the hearing schedule. The Democratic Party is expected to hold a workshop for its lawmakers Wednesday to finalize details including the specific schedule.
