Park Hang-seo resigns as KFA vice president, sole executive to step down over World Cup failure

Park Hang-seo has resigned as vice president and team delegation chief of the Korea Football Association while in Mexico for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The KFA said Monday that Park submitted his resignation on June 28 (local time), immediately after former national team head coach Hong Myung-bo announced his own resignation at a press conference in Mexico.

Park had at that point delivered a formal apology on behalf of the KFA.

Park joined the KFA as its 55th vice president in April last year, taking charge of support for all national team squads and serving as delegation chief for the North and Central American World Cup.

According to an association official, after South Korea was eliminated in the group stage, Park quietly held a team disbandment ceremony attended by KFA executive director Kim Seung-hee and the players, completed his official duties as delegation chief and then stepped down from the vice presidency.

Park bowed and apologized in Mexico, saying, "As delegation chief, I offer a deep apology on behalf of the KFA for failing to meet the expectations of the Korean people at this World Cup." He returned home Tuesday alongside Hong and the rest of the main delegation.

In what has been called the "North American World Cup disaster," former KFA chairman Chung Mong-gyu also stepped down Monday, following Hong's earlier resignation.

Yet the rest of the current executive board that ran the association under Chung remains in place, showing no signs of stepping down.

Park is now the only member of that executive body to have accepted shared responsibility for the debacle.

Meanwhile, Park was appointed head coach of Thai second-division club Kanchanaburi FC in May, with an agreement to take charge of the team from July, after the World Cup.