Rebuilding Korea Party calls World Cup failure a systemic crisis, urges football association overhaul

Kim Jae-won, a lawmaker of the Rebuilding Korea Party, on Tuesday called for sweeping reform of the Korea Football Association, saying the national team's group-stage exit at the 2026 North America World Cup represented a last chance to overhaul the organization.

Speaking at a press conference, Kim — a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee — said the team's failure to advance from the group stage, combined with KFA President Chung Mong-gyu's announcement of his intention to resign, made comprehensive institutional reform of the association unavoidable.

"This crisis is not simply a matter of results on the pitch or the individual failings of a coach," Kim said. "It is the accumulated result of public distrust in the way the football association operates and makes decisions." He said he had raised concerns about the coach selection process, the operation of the national team performance committee and the association's governance during the National Assembly's 2024 national audit of the KFA, but nothing had been improved — "and that failure has ultimately led to the public distrust we see today."

On the government's plan to conduct a special audit of the KFA, Kim called it "a first step toward addressing the public's concerns," but added that "public trust can only be restored when the audit results are disclosed transparently and lead to reform of the coach selection process, the presidential election system and the association's overall governance."

Kim said replacing individual figures was not enough. "Simply swapping out the president or the coach falls short," he said. "If the existing electoral college system is kept in place, there is a strong likelihood that only the faces will change while the structural problems remain."

Rebuilding Korea Party lawmakers Cha Gyu-geun and Baek Seon-hui also attended the press conference.

The Rebuilding Korea Party put forward five reform priorities for the KFA: institutionalizing the national team coach selection process; securing the independence of expert committees including the national team performance committee; a full overhaul of governance including the presidential election system; expanding electoral college representation and strengthening candidate vetting; and revising the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee's member federation regulations.

"The future of Korean football must be decided not by any one person's judgment, but through the participation of those who know the game best — players, coaches and referees," Kim said. "The public is no longer asking about results; they are asking about process. Telling them something is 'difficult under the regulations' is not enough to persuade anyone. The football association must answer the questions being asked of it."

He added that Korean football was "a public asset built together by players and the people, not the property of any individual," and pledged to monitor the reform process through to completion — including through legislative and policy support such as revising the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee's member federation regulations and improving the KFA's presidential election system.

Meanwhile, the national team under Hong finished the tournament in Group A with one win and two losses, accumulating three points and failing to advance from the group stage.

Hong and some members of the squad returned home through Incheon International Airport in the early hours of Tuesday, met by fans shouting abuse and booing.