Kim Byung-ji publicly targets commentator Park Moon-sung with allegations over KFA ties, politics and family

Kim Byung-ji, CEO of Gangwon FC, has publicly targeted football commentator Park Moon-sung, raising a series of allegations ranging from Park's past ties to the Korea Football Association to rumors of a political career and questions about his daughter's overseas education.

Kim posted a lengthy message on his SNS account Monday addressed "To Mr. Park Moon-sung."

He opened by asking whether Park was planning to run for the National Assembly. "I don't believe you would use football as a political stepping stone, but there are many rumors," Kim wrote.

Kim then noted that Park currently serves as co-chair of the Professional Football Growth Committee, a body launched by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. He said Park, as a public figure, had a responsibility to address the allegations circulating about him. "Didn't you do a lot of work related to the association in the past? I don't think it was simple volunteer work. Was the compensation you received back then fair?" he asked.

Kim also raised questions about the Korea Football Association's recent corporate card scandal, in which the association allegedly used its corporate card for sexual entertainment. "The association did misuse its corporate card," Kim wrote. "Is it true that you never attended a meal or an after-hours drinking session paid for with the association's corporate card, going back to your days as a journalist?"

He added that news reports suggested the association's corporate card misuse had first been raised as an issue in 2016. "Did you ever criticize the association's improper use of its corporate card at that time?" Kim asked.

Kim also questioned the timing of Park's escalating criticism of the Korea Football Association.

"It seems like the scope and intensity of your criticism of the association expanded starting in 2024," Kim wrote. "Were you perhaps interested in the position of KFA vice president in 2023?"

Kim also raised questions about Park's alleged involvement in the selection of the head coach for Soongsil University's football team. "There are rumors that you were involved in appointing Park Sung-bae as Soongsil University's football team director. What do you make of that?" he wrote.

Kim then brought Park's family into the discussion. "You have had a lot to say about my sons — how did your daughter end up going to study in Canada in the middle of middle school?" he wrote. "And what is this serious rumor about an after-party at a noraebang on Jan. 31, 2020, following a trip with Dalsu's Travel?"

Kim went on to say, "I am applying to you the same standards of scrutiny you applied to me and my family. Do you think that is the right approach?"

The controversy surrounding Kim's alleged leisure trip to Cancun first surfaced at a National Assembly hearing last month.

After it emerged that some regional football association presidents had spent two nights in Cancun during what was billed as an official KFA trip to Mexico, Park called out the matter on YouTube and criticized it sharply.

On Friday, Kim used his own YouTube channel to push back against the allegations surrounding him and announced he would file a civil lawsuit against Park and a YouTube channel called "Dalsu's Live."

Meanwhile, when asked for his response to Kim's claims, Park said, "He can just face the investigation."