Former national team goalkeeper Kim Young-gwang. [Korea Professional Football League]
Former national team goalkeeper Kim Young-gwang. [Korea Professional Football League]

Former footballer Kim Young-gwang has again publicly taken aim at Hong Myung-bo, the former South Korea national team head coach.

Kim appeared as a guest on MBC's talk show "Radio Star" on Wednesday alongside Kim Jung-min, Lee Seung-woo and Jung Seung-hwan.

Lee, who was left off the final squad for the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, opened up about how he felt in the lead-up to the roster announcement.

"My form kept improving as the World Cup approached. I was watching alone, down on my knees praying," Lee said. "I went through the midfielders and then the forwards and my name wasn't there. Son Heung-min and Oh Hyeon-gyu were the last ones left, so I just turned off the TV. My heart ached for days."

Lee also revealed that Hong had come to watch his final two or three club matches. "Every time he came, I scored a goal. I thought to myself, 'I think I'm going to make it' — but I didn't," he said.

Kim then turned up the heat, pointing squarely at Hong's "stubbornness" as the reason Lee was left out of the final World Cup squad.

"I always said Seung-woo had to be in. The reason he wasn't comes down to the coach's stubbornness — that's my personal view," Kim said. "Seung-woo has something Korean players don't. He has a uniquely African-style flexibility and rhythm. You need a player who can make a difference."

Kim kept up his attack on Hong. "If he had gone this time, I think he would have made that difference. It's a shame. I kept saying he should be picked, but for some reason there seemed to be this stubbornness about not picking him. Isn't he Korea's Messi?" he said.

An apparently flustered Lee tried to distance himself from the remarks, saying, "I didn't say anything," drawing laughter from the studio audience.

Lee also expressed gratitude to fans, saying, "When I came back for the Asian qualifying campaign last year after a long absence, so many people showed their support — I almost cried walking out."

Kim had already made headlines last month when, during a live broadcast of South Korea's group-stage match against South Africa at the 2026 World Cup, he suddenly shouted "Hong Myung-bo, get out!" right after the defeat while discussing the team's chances of advancing to the round of 32. He later said, "I was watching as one member of the public and one football fan, just expressing how I felt," adding with characteristic candor, "It's not easy for people in football to speak up because they're thinking about the future — but I'm not going to stay in the football world, so."


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