Hong Myung-bo rebuffs corporate card misuse allegations, says spending followed KFA rules

Former South Korea national football team coach Hong Myung-bo has rebuffed media reports alleging he misused a corporate card, saying the claims are not true.

In a rebuttal statement Wednesday titled "Response to JTBC's corporate card report," Hong said JTBC had reported that he used about 14 million won ($13,500) on the corporate card over two years at restaurants in Bundang-gu, the district where his home is located, during his tenure as national team coach. "However, some of the article's content differs from the facts, and I would like to address that," he said.

Hong said in the statement that he had used the card "only within the purposes and limits set under Korea Football Association regulations," adding that all records had been documented and settled with the association. "Not once during my tenure was I told that any use of the corporate card was inappropriate, nor was I asked to make any corrections," he said.

JTBC had reported Tuesday that Hong charged 14.08 million won on the corporate card at establishments near his home in Bundang-gu, raising allegations that he had used it for personal purposes.

Hong pushed back on this, saying: "All of the foreign coaches on the national team staff lived in Bundang-gu. The coaching staff used a shared office in Bundang-gu for meetings and work, and meals were also held within the district."

He added that the national football team had assembled twice last year at a hotel in Jeongja-dong, Bundang-gu, using it as the squad's accommodation for the 2025 East Asian Cup — held in Yongin and Suwon — and the North and Central America World Cup Asian third-round qualifier against Jordan. "Corporate card spending in Bundang-gu was not personal consumption but the concentrated result of work-related expenditures tied to the foreign coaching staff's residence and the team's assembly and operations," he said.

Hong said it was "very regrettable" that the report had characterized work-related spending as personal simply because it occurred near his home, without considering the working environment of the national team and the residential circumstances of the coaching staff. He added that he was preparing to present supporting documentation at a hearing.