'K-Football Innovation Committee' Launches, Co-Chaired by Park Ji-sung and Yoo Seung-min

The "K-Football Innovation Committee," formed to reform Korean football following the "disaster" at the 2026 World Cup in North and Central America, has begun full-scale activities.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism held the committee's inaugural ceremony, combined with its first meeting, on Thursday at the Olympic Parktel in Songpa District, Seoul.

Attendees included Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young, FIFA committee member Park Ji-sung, Korean Sport & Olympic Committee President Yoo Seung-min, former national team players and commentators Lee Young-pyo and Park Joo-ho, Korea Football Association Executive Director Kim Seung-hee, Korea Professional Football League Secretary General Cho Yeon-sang, attorney Yoo Young-geun, and Pukyong National University Professor Kim Dae-hee.

Responding to demands for reform in the football community raised in the wake of the World Cup, the committee will comprehensively discuss major tasks aimed at boosting the future competitiveness of Korean football, including football governance, youth player development, and the adoption of advanced technology systems. It will operate until the next Korea Football Association executive administration is launched.

Park Ji-sung and President Yoo Seung-min will serve as co-chairs of the innovation committee. Initially, Minister Choi was to serve as co-chair alongside Park Ji-sung, but ahead of the first meeting on the day, Choi recommended Yoo as co-chair and announced that he himself would serve as a committee member. Choi repeatedly stressed that his role was that of a facilitator, apparently to prevent the committee's activities from being seen as government interference or intervention in the football association. "The independence of the football association must be respected, and the government must not overstep the authority prescribed by law," Choi said. "As one direction for putting this into practice, I would like to step down from the co-chair position and have President Yoo fill it."

Accepting the co-chairmanship, Yoo said, "As a football fan and a member of the sports community, I have been thinking about how to help." He added, "I will work to bring about a state where the public can once again applaud the football world." He then stressed, "However, there is a need to clarify the nature of this committee's discussion results—whether they are recommendations, an agreement, or implementation tasks premised on follow-up procedures."

Co-chair Park Ji-sung began by saying, "As a football figure, I feel both sorry and grateful that such a forum has been created." He said, "Korean football is one of our country's most popular sports, but this World Cup revealed that we cannot keep doing things the way we have until now." He added, "In the end, how much of what we discuss will be reflected and put into practice will be the most important issue."

After the Korean national football team was eliminated in the group stage of the World Cup, head coach Hong Myung-bo stepped down to take responsibility for the poor performance, and Korea Football Association President Chung Mong-gyu submitted his resignation to the association ahead of the committee's launch on the day.