Rep. Kim Seung-su of the People Power Party [provided by the lawmaker's office]
Rep. Kim Seung-su of the People Power Party [provided by the lawmaker's office]

Ahead of a National Assembly hearing on the Korea Football Association scheduled for Thursday, a large number of regional football association heads who had publicly defended former KFA President Chung Mong-gyu have submitted notices of non-attendance.

According to Rep. Kim Seung-su of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee representing Daegu's Buk-gu, 11 of the 28 originally summoned witnesses and reference persons — two witnesses and nine reference persons — have filed notices saying they will not appear.

Seo Gang-il, chairman of the North Jeolla Province Football Association, who drew fierce criticism from football fans on July 16 for saying "What would Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo know?", notified Kim's office that he would skip the hearing due to a simple "medical appointment."

Baek Hyun-sik, chairman of the Busan Football Association, who also came under fire for remarks defending Chung, cited "volunteer work caring for 200 abandoned animals," while Park Seong-wan, chairman of the South Chungcheong Province Football Association, claimed he could not adjust his personal schedule on such short notice — excuses Kim described as mockery of the public.

Kim said it was "highly inappropriate" for key figures to dodge the hearing with "absurd excuses," calling the session essential for exposing problems in the unfair and unlawful process by which Hong Myung-bo was appointed national team director and for overhauling the KFA's entrenched factionalism.

"Public demand to fix the KFA's systemic failures and reform Korean football has never been louder," Kim said. "Despite that, Seo Gang-il, Baek Hyun-sik, Park Seong-wan and other key figures have notified us of their absence with irresponsible excuses — an act of deception toward the National Assembly and the public. Those witnesses and reference persons who skip this hearing with flimsy reasons will be held fully accountable through the national audit and every other available means," he said.

The hearing was convened to examine questions of procedural fairness in the appointments of former national team directors Klinsmann and Hong Myung-bo, allegations surrounding the KFA's surprise amnesty of disciplined officials, and concerns over the association's opaque management and administrative failures — with the aim of charting a path to normalizing Korean football.


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