Held jointly responsible with Chung Mong-gyu and Lee Im-saeng
By Jung Joo-won, The Herald Business
Former national team head coach Hong Myung-bo has been named in an additional criminal complaint alongside former Korea Football Association President Chung Mong-gyu and former KFA technical director Lee Im-saeng. The People's Livelihood Committee filed the complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Wednesday afternoon, citing accountability over the coaching appointment process and the management of the national team.
The group held a press conference Wednesday morning at its office in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, saying it had concluded — after a comprehensive review of the coaching selection process that began in 2024 and the overall management of the national team — that an additional complaint against Hong was necessary.
"Hong is being reported this time on charges including coercion, intimidation, obstruction of business, breach of fiduciary duty and joint criminal liability," said Kim Sun-hwan, the committee's secretary-general. "We view this as a matter that Chung, former technical development committee chairman Lee Im-saeng and Hong pursued in concert from the outset, and we are treating them as joint perpetrators."
Kim added that the coaching appointment had been pushed through despite objections from the national team strengthening committee, and that the subsequent board approval of Hong's appointment by written resolution was also procedurally flawed. "The fair work of the strengthening committee was obstructed — and given that one of its members at the time made a public disclosure of conscience, investigative authorities must clearly establish the full picture of the appointment process," he said.
Kim also raised questions about Hong's salary. "The national team head coach is a position funded by taxpayer money, yet the public has no idea what the salary is," he said. "There is an obligation to disclose the salary and contract terms transparently. This is something he himself must explain."
Kim added that the committee had refrained from filing a complaint against Hong two years ago, expecting him to step down voluntarily in response to public opinion, but that he had remained in the post, ultimately prompting the additional complaint.
The complaint alleges that the process by which Hong was appointed and his salary determined constitutes breach of fiduciary duty, and also claims that the management of the national team has damaged public trust.
The committee also sharply criticized police for failing to reach a conclusion after more than two years of investigation. "It has been two years and four months since the first complaint was filed, and the substance of the investigation is effectively all wrapped up," Kim said. "This is a case that only needs to be referred to prosecutors, yet the police leadership keeps delaying the decision."
The committee also expressed concern over the recent transfer of the case to the financial crimes unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's wide-area investigation division. "If investigators have to review from scratch the material that Jongno Police Station accumulated over a long period, it will only cause further delays," Kim said. "The case should be swiftly referred to prosecutors based on the evidence secured by the field investigators, or the truth should be established through a separate special prosecutor."
Kim further called for accountability over the roughly 10 billion won ($6.43 million) paid to former head coach Jürgen Klinsmann and the overall coaching appointment process. "All the allegations surrounding the KFA's operations that have been raised ahead of this World Cup must be clearly resolved through investigation," he said.
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