'This makes the hearing a joke': Commentator criticizes decision to list Son Heung-min as reference witness

Football commentator Park Moon-sung has sharply criticized the National Assembly's decision to include Son Heung-min on the witness list for an upcoming parliamentary hearing.

The National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee held a plenary session Thursday and agreed to convene a hearing on the Korea Football Association on July 22. The committee voted to adopt a hearing implementation plan and finalized a list of 13 witnesses and 10 reference witnesses. The hearing is expected to examine how former national team coaches Jurgen Klinsmann and Hong Myung-bo were appointed, as well as allegations of closed-door decision-making at the association.

Son Heung-min (LAFC) and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers), both of whom played at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, were included among the reference witnesses. Son is effectively unable to attend, as his club has a match scheduled for July 23 (Korean Standard Time), the day after the hearing. Unlike formal witnesses, reference witnesses are not legally required to appear.

In response, Park took to his YouTube channel "Dalsune Live" that day and criticized Son's inclusion. "Get a grip. Who decided to call him? There is simply no way he can come," he said.

Park said Son's club has a match against LA Galaxy on July 18 and another against Real Salt Lake on July 23. "So are they telling him to fly in on July 22 — just one day in between — and show up at a hearing?" he said.

He went on to say, "They didn't even check the facts. What exactly are they expecting Son Heung-min to do? This is why it looks like nothing more than a show. Do they want to ask him how he felt about not being in the starting lineup?"

"If it comes to this, the hearing becomes a joke," Park added. "Everything gets buried under the Son Heung-min story, and we never get to the real issues we need to address."

The lawmaker who proposed the two players as reference witnesses is Im O-gyeong of the Democratic Party of Korea. The stated purpose of the questioning is "World Cup match performance and matters related to the national team."

Meanwhile, Hong, who was named as a formal witness, issued a statement through the Hong Myung-bo Scholarship Foundation saying he would attend the hearing. "If a hearing is held, I believe it is an occasion to explain the World Cup results to the public," Hong said. "If so, I am the one who should stand there — as the coach."