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South Korean president goes nuclear after FIFA World Cup flop show, demands investigation: ‘Favoritism and cronyism'
Hong Myung-bo's re-appointment as national team manager in 2024 had already led to backlash, with many accusing the South Korean FA of favouritism.
A shellshocked South Korean president, Lee Jae Myung, slammed head coach Hong Myung-bo, blaming him for the Asian country's group-stage exit at the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup. South Korea were expected to reach the knockouts, but back-to-back defeats to Mexico and South Africa saw them crash out of the tournament.
On X, Lee criticised the South Korean Football Association's appointment of Myung-bo as head coach, calling it 'haphazard'.
"In the end, it's proven once again that personnel is everything. When favoritism and cronyism take precedence over competence in selecting a commander, the result is as predictable as fire burning paper," he wrote.
"The fact that such haphazard appointments—failing to distinguish public from private and prioritizing personal gain over public interest—are possible stems from the inability or difficulty in monitoring, checking, and holding personnel decision-makers accountable.
"Ultimately, every organization requires democratic composition and control, along with alignment between authority and responsibility.
"Establishing democratic leadership structures and objective monitoring and oversight systems in the private sector is a key national policy task for this administration.
"I understand that the implementation is progressing well on the directive to provide administrative guidance for sports organizations like the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and the Korea Football Association to adopt direct elections by all relevant sports figures, rather than a minority indirect election system through the executive committee's delegates—as in the case of changing the composition of National Agricultural Cooperative Federation executives to direct elections by union members.
"Building a strict monitoring and oversight system for the transparency, fairness, and objectivity of operations, and ensuring corresponding accountability for actions and outcomes, is also an important task."
'Address the precise circumstances of this incident, analyze its causes'
He called it a 'failure of organisation and personnel', and pointed out that national taxpayer funds and state support resources were invested in the World Cup's participation. He called for an investigation.
"This failure to qualify for the World Cup finals, which has left the public feeling empty, appears to be a failure of organization and personnel.
"Given that significant national taxpayer funds and state support resources are invested even in World Cup participation, I ask that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism meticulously address the precise circumstances of this incident, analyze its causes, and develop thorough measures for preventing recurrence and improvement."
Hong's re-appointment as national team manager in 2024 had already led to backlash, with many accusing the South Korean FA of favouritism.
