Rep. Lee Jae-jeong of the Democratic Party of Korea, who chairs the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, opens a plenary session at the National Assembly on Friday. [Yonhap]
Rep. Lee Jae-jeong of the Democratic Party of Korea, who chairs the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, opens a plenary session at the National Assembly on Friday. [Yonhap]

The National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee has agreed by bipartisan consensus to add five witnesses to its upcoming hearing on the Korea Football Association.

The committee held a plenary session Friday and passed a motion to add the five reference witnesses to the hearing on KFA affairs.

The newly added witnesses are Kim Byung-chul, former chair of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee's Sports Fairness Commission; Seo Gang-il, chairman of the North Jeolla Province Football Association; Park Sung-wan, chairman of the South Chungcheong Province Football Association; Baek Hyun-sik, chairman of the Busan Metropolitan City Football Association; and Park Ji-young, former head of the Sports Ethics Center.

The five are expected to face questions on the approval of former KFA President Chung Mong-gyu's bid for a third consecutive term, allegations of perjury, reform tasks facing the association, and issues surrounding national team player selection and the appointment of coaches and managers.

Earlier, the committee voted Tuesday — with People Power Party lawmakers absent — to postpone the hearing to July 30, and adopted 15 witnesses including former KFA President Chung and former national team head coach Hong Myung-bo, along with eight reference witnesses including Park Ji-sung, co-chair of the K-Football Innovation Committee, and Yoo Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee.

Three of the newly added witnesses — Seo, Park Sung-wan and Baek — have publicly opposed calls for KFA reform that followed South Korea's group-stage elimination at the North and Central America World Cup.

Seo drew controversy in a recent media interview when he said, "I don't know what Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo think they know to be running the K-Football Innovation Committee." He also defended Chung, saying, "People call it '13 years of dominance,' but I see it as '13 years of sacrifice.'"

Baek similarly argued in a media interview, "What exactly did President Chung Mong-gyu do so wrong?" adding that "his efforts to develop football over 13 years must also be recognized." Park Sung-wan also opposed amendments to the association's bylaws and called for a by-election under the current rules.

Kim, the former Sports Fairness Commission chair, denied at the National Assembly's October 2024 national audit of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee that he had received golf entertainment shortly after approving Chung's third consecutive term. He said at the time that he had understood he was attending a KSOC executive unity event.

The committee is scheduled to hold the KFA hearing on July 30.


min3654@heraldcorp.com