Jeong Mong-gyu donated only W30m of personal funds to football association over 13 years despite touting wealth

Jeong Mong-gyu, the former Korea Football Association president, contributed only 30 million won ($19,900) of his own money to the association over more than 13 years in office, despite having campaigned heavily on his personal wealth and financial clout.

KBS reported Friday that Jeong's personal donations to the KFA between 2013 and last year totaled just 30 million won.

Financial statements filed with the National Tax Service show the contributions consisted of 10 million won in 2015 and 20 million won in 2018 — personal donations from Jeong himself, not corporate funds from HDC Hyundai Development Company, which he leads.

Yet during his time as a candidate, association officials who backed him made much of his financial resources.

Referee evaluators at the time said things like, "Someone who runs a company needs to run the association — that's how money flows," and "Bluntly put, you need a source of funding; without it, you can't manage when it really counts."

Jeong himself leaned into that image. In January last year, he made a campaign pledge to donate 5 billion won to the KFA for the construction of the Cheonan Football Center.

He also promised to pay out tens of billions of won in bonuses each time the South Korean national team advanced through a round at the 2026 North America World Cup. However, the team failed to reach the round of 32, so no bonuses were paid out.

Jeong was first elected the 52nd KFA president in January 2013 and went on to win four consecutive terms through his 55th-term presidency. He stepped down Monday after about 13 years and five months at the helm of Korean football.

In his resignation letter, Jeong said he had "run with eyes fixed only on the development and glory of Korean football" during his tenure. "Sometimes I met your expectations, and sometimes I caused deep disappointment," he wrote. "All the glory and achievements belong to the players and the fans. All the shortcomings and mistakes are mine alone."