Chung Mong-gyu, president of the Korea Football Association, should now open his mouth. Will there be any questions about the process of appointing Hong Myung-bo.
The National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee will hold a questionnaire at 10 a.m. on the 24th. Chairman Chung Mong-gyu, director Hong Myung-bo and technical director Lee Im-saeng will attend as witnesses.
The appointment of a Korean national team coach has been noisy throughout 2024. At the Asian Cup, Korea lost to Jordan in the semifinals. The Korea Football Association replaced Jurgen Klinsmann. The Korea Football Association has set up a new committee to strengthen its capabilities and sought a new coach.
The K-League’s reinforcement committee nominated Hong Myung-bo from the beginning. However, K-League fans including Ulsan fans showed strong opposition. It is because removing the coach at a time when the opening of the K-League is a decision that does not respect the K-League at all. Fans even staged truck protests to express their discontent. Ultimately, the K-League’s reinforcement committee backed off from the appointment of Hong Myung-bo.
The process of appointing a coach was delayed and the A-match was sent under Hwang Sun-hong as a temporary coach in March. Since then, the process of appointing a coach has not gone smoothly. News that the Korea Power Reinforcement Committee is selecting candidates for the coach continued, but there was no progress. Eventually, the A-match in June was also handed over under the interim coach Kim Do-hoon.
The committee has decided on the final candidates. Among them were two domestic coaches. Korean coaches are known to be Kim Do-hoon and Hong Myung-bo. Under such circumstances, Chairman Chung Hae-sung suddenly resigned. Lee Im-saeng will replace the vacancy of the committee chairman.
Coach Hong Myung-bo indirectly declined his offer to serve as the national team coach. “If the Korea Football Association brings someone with more experience and performance than me, my name won’t come out naturally. My position is always the same, so fans don’t have to worry,” he said.
Coach Hong Myung-bo also declined to be the national team coach, and as director Lee Im-saeng left for Europe for interviews with Gus Foyet and David Wagner, the national team coach seemed to be caught as a foreigner. Ulsan fans were also relieved because coach Hong Myung-bo emphasized, “My position is always the same, so fans don’t have to worry.”
However, a reversal occurred. The Korea Football Association chose Hong Myung-bo as its new head coach. This angered the fans. It raised questions whether everything that had been done at the committee was a show-off procedure.
In addition, fairness in the proceedings became an issue. The interviews were conducted with Foyet and Wagner, but Hong Myung-bo was different. Director Lee Im-saeng reportedly visited in person and asked for the position of coach of the national team. After all, Hong took the helm of the national team without having any PT or interviews.
The fans’ anger did not fade away, and fans shouted “Jung Mong-gyu, get out!” and “Hong Myung-bo, get out!” at the match against Palestine, the first game of the national team. Whenever Hong was caught on the electronic display, he booed the coach. It clearly showed how the current public opinion is. 안전놀이터
On the other hand, the upcoming questionnaire will not only examine the process of appointing Hong Myung-bo, but also the possibility of Chung Mong-gyu’s bid for a fourth term in office and the opening of a negative bank account by the Korea Football Association. Attention is focusing on whether the upcoming questionnaire will address fans’ questions.