Hong Myung-bo, the beleaguered head coach of the Korean men’s national football team, said Tuesday he doesn’t think he was given any preferential treatment when he was hired for the job this summer. Hong made the comment during the questioning session by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee of the National Assembly. The coach was among witnesses summoned by the committee, whose lawmakers grilled Hong, Korea Football Association (KFA) President Chung Mong-gyu and other KFA officials on the controversial appointment of Hong in July.
Critics of the move have charged that the KFA wasted months interviewing foreign candidates when it had wanted Hong all along. Hong, who had earlier rejected the KFA’s overtures for the vacant coaching position, accepted the job after a hastily arranged meeting with Lee Lim-saeng, technical director of the KFA thrust into the lead role in the coaching hiring process. When asked, point-blank, by Rebuilding Korea Party Rep. Kim Jae-won whether he felt he had been hired fairly, Hong responded, “I don’t think I received any preferential treatment.
“I accepted the job because I was told I was the top candidate,” Hong added, referring to his meeting with Lee. “Technical director Lee Lim-saeng told me I was the No. 1 candidate, as chosen by the National Teams Committee of the KFA. If I had been No. 2 or No. 3, I wouldn’t 추천 have accepted the offer .”The KFA was criticized for pleading with Hong to take the position, rather than putting him through a rigorous vetting process like other candidates. When Kim brought up the point, Hong responded, “I think the word ‘pleading’ is not correct in this situation.”
“The committee had three finalists, and I think Lee’s job was to contact those three and negotiate,” Hong added. Another committee member, Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Rep. Cho Gye-won, pressed Hong to resign if his hiring process is found to have been unfair and illegal. “I don’t think there has been anything unfair with the process,” Hong reiterated. “As head coach of the team, my job is to build a strong squad and put up good results at the World Cup (in 2026).”
Hong acknowledged that the controversy surrounding his appointment has had a negative effect on the team morale and added, “I will do my best as head coach in that regard.” DPK Rep. Lim O-kyeong asked Hong why he had a sudden change of heart to take the national team reins when he had publicly said he wouldn’t leave his then K League club, Ulsan HD FC, earlier in the year. Hong repeated the same answer he had offered in his inaugural press conference in July.
Hong, who first coached Korea at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, said he initially didn’t want to return to the position, knowing how challenging it is. “But it became hard to ignore the difficult position that our national team was in, and I wanted to serve the country one last time,” Hong said. “I didn’t think I would feel the same sense of responsibility and duty that I had 10 years ago. But my meeting with Lee Lim-saeng brought that out in me. That’s why I decided to take the job.”
In a media scrum after the morning session at the National Assembly, Hong said he chose to attend the committee’s meeting to answer questions that people have about his appointment. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea to discuss things that people may be curious about, and do so to the best of my knowledge,” Hong said. “I am supposed to be in Europe now because I needed to check on some players.” Hong was referring to his preparation for the two World Cup qualifying matches coming up against Jordan and Iraq in October. He is scheduled to announce his squad next Monday and would have traveled to Europe to scout some Korean players there, if not for the parliamentary session.