Jongno Police to transfer cases to Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Wednesday
Klinsmann appointment complaints to be merged into unified investigation
Defamation allegations involving Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in also under probe
By Jung Joo-won, The Herald Business
Criminal complaints filed over the Korea Football Association's appointment of national team head coach Hong Myung-bo are being transferred to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for a consolidated investigation. Complaints related to the earlier appointment of former coach Jurgen Klinsmann will also be folded into the unified probe.
The Jongno Police Station in Seoul was set to transfer all KFA-related complaints to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Wednesday. "We plan to hand the cases over to the Seoul agency during the day on Wednesday," a Jongno Police official said.
Police plan to consolidate not only the complaints over Hong's appointment but also those filed in connection with Klinsmann's hiring process, transferring them together to the Seoul agency. "We do not yet know whether all eight cases will be transferred or only some of them," the Jongno official said.
The KFA has been relocating its operations to Korea Football Park in Cheonan since late last year, gradually shifting national team training and administrative functions there. Rather than sending the cases to Cheonan, authorities decided the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency would take them over and continue the investigation directly.
The Jongno station is currently handling a total of eight KFA-related complaints. "In many of the complaints, the respondents are listed broadly as 'KFA officials,' making it difficult to identify the exact number of individuals named," the official said.
Most of the complaints were filed by civic group Seomin Minseong Daechaek Wiwonhoe, a citizens' advocacy organization, and members of the public who came forward after media reports in 2024 on the circumstances of Hong's appointment. Police said the cases were divided into eight separate complaints solely because they were filed by different complainants, and that most center on charges of obstruction of business and breach of fiduciary duty.
However, some complaints also allege that the KFA defamed Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in by disclosing to reporters allegations of a locker-room dispute between the two players.
Those named as respondents include former KFA President Chung Mong-gyu and technical director Lee Im-saeng. In some cases, members of the public — finding it difficult to identify the actual decision-makers — filed broad complaints naming "Chung Mong-gyu, Lee Im-saeng and other KFA officials." Head coach Hong has not been named as a respondent.
"Investigations of the key respondents have largely been completed," the Jongno official said, adding that a substantial portion of the fact-finding and witness interviews related to cases filed in 2024 had already been carried out. Police pushed back against criticism that the investigation had stalled, saying significant progress had in fact been made.
The cases originated in July 2024, when civic groups and others filed complaints against former President Chung and others on charges of breach of fiduciary duty and obstruction of business. Police are investigating whether criminal wrongdoing occurred in the process of appointing Hong, drawing on the findings of a Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism audit and the outcome of related administrative litigation.
The transfer to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is expected to consolidate the previously scattered KFA complaints under one roof and accelerate the investigation. Legal experts say the crux of the probe will be whether investigators can establish not merely procedural irregularities but actual criminal liability — specifically, obstruction of business or breach of fiduciary duty.
Kim Myung-seop, a senior attorney at law firm Jaegeon, said the central question is likely to be whether the appointment process involved obstruction through deception — such as falsifying documents or distorting evaluations — rather than breach of fiduciary duty. "Police have the advantage of coercive investigative powers when it comes to securing evidence, but interpreting that evidence will also require expertise in how football associations operate and how coaching appointments are made," he said.
Park Min-gyu, a senior attorney at law firm Anpak, said breach of fiduciary duty charges could be established if internal documents prove that those involved failed to fulfill their professional obligations. "Police can use compulsory investigation to access materials that ordinary people cannot obtain, so the outcome of the investigation will be decisive in revealing the true nature of this case," he said.
jookapooka@heraldcorp.com
