Hong Myung-bo's name surfaces at prime minister confirmation hearing

The name of South Korea national team head coach Hong Myung-bo came up Friday during the confirmation hearing for prime minister nominee Han Sung-sook, as criticism over the team's group-stage exit at the 2026 FIFA World Cup spilled into the National Assembly chamber.

At the hearing, independent lawmaker Choi Hyeok-jin raised the national team's poor showing and what he described as deep-rooted structural problems in Korean soccer.

"Not watching the soccer match on Thursday — because we were busy with this hearing — may have added a few years to our lives," Choi said. "There are those who say that cartels within the football association and certain universities are ruining South Korean soccer."

He said it has been decades since people began pointing out that players who do not attend certain universities cannot make the national team no matter how hard they work, and that even those who do make the squad are often left warming the bench.

"Why are there cartels like this in places funded by taxpayer money, breaking the hearts of the public?" he said, urging clear structural reform.

Han said she believed the matter would be resolved. "The whole nation is furious about the football association — I think it will be resolved well," she said.

Baek Hye-ryeon, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker chairing the special confirmation committee, also reflected the mood in the room. "I heard people joking today that instead of a confirmation hearing for prime minister nominee Han Sung-sook, we should be holding one for coach Hong Myung-bo," she said.

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Seon-won drew a comparison between Han and former national team coach Guus Hiddink. "People say a coach like Guus Hiddink would be better than a former player like Hong Myung-bo," Park said. "The president picked the nominee precisely because she is a Hiddink — not an ordinary bureaucrat or the kind of professor we usually see. Please be like Hiddink."

Although the hearing was intended to scrutinize Han's policy credentials, the wave of public frustration over the World Cup result drew questions about the football association's governance and the national team coaching situation into the proceedings. The backlash surrounding the squad is now spreading into the political arena.