Former National Football Team Coach Hong Myung-bo to Football YouTubers and Celebrities: "Join the Association and Make the Changes Yourself"

Hong Myung-bo Delivers Strong Message to Football Community Critics at Hearing

"You Need to Understand How Difficult Reality Is from the Inside"

Former South Korea national football team coach Hong Myung-bo delivered a strong message to critics of the Korea Football Association (KFA) from within the football community, stating, "Come in and make the changes yourself."

On the 30th, Hong attended a hearing as a witness before the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, where he faced tough questions from both ruling and opposition party lawmakers. Lawmakers repeatedly pressed him about the perceived lack of fairness in the selection process for the national team manager and who should be held accountable for the disappointing result of South Korea's early elimination from the group stage at the 2026 North-Central America World Cup.

Former South Korean national soccer team coach Hong Myung-bo is responding to a lawmaker's question at the Korea Football Association hearing held on the 30th at the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers' Association

The hearing lasted about 12 hours, including breaks, and questions were raised about Hong's response to footballers who, through platforms like YouTube, have pointed out alleged "cartels" and other problems within the KFA.

Hong responded by stating, "The association should not take such criticisms lightly." He continued, "I don’t believe that this can be resolved by just one person doing their work well. I also recognize that it’s a structure that will not easily change unless all football people put in the effort and work together."

He added, "If you are aware of the problems, you should come into the field and create a system that you yourself can improve through your own efforts. Although it is truly difficult, I hope young people will step up and help change the things that are difficult."

Having also served as secretary general of the KFA, Hong further remarked, "Playing a good role from the outside, voicing opinions and giving critical feedback is all worthwhile, but you also need to realize just how hard the reality is from within. In doing so, I believe individuals will take more responsibility and be able to drive further changes." He emphasized, "There are many challenging environments, but if people come in and work directly in those places, improvements will come more quickly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.