Hong Myung-bo, head coach of the South Korean men's national football team, answers a question before the parliamentary committee on culture, sports and tourism at the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. (Yonhap)
Hong Myung-bo, the beleaguered head coach of the South 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 also defied calls for his resignation over the issue.
Hong made these comments 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 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 have accepted the offer."
Hong also insisted that he is not going anywhere, now that he has been put in charge through a proper process.
"I have no plans to resign over this matter," Hong said. "Of course, if I don't put up results, I will be fired at some point. For now, my job is to build a really strong squad."
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 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."
DP 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 South 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.
While Hong stayed put, Lee Lim-saeng, the technical director, announced his resignation during the evening session. Lee was grilled about the validity of the transfer of responsibility in the coaching search, after he took over from Chung Hae-sung, who resigned as head of the National Teams Committee in late June due to health concerns.
According to the KFA, five members of the committee agreed to let Lee run the process in an online meeting on June 30.
However, DP Rep. Yang Moon-seok said the meeting itself was illegal, and Lee had no legal grounds to assume the responsibilities Chung Hae-sung once held.
Another DP lawmaker, Kang Yu-jung, pointed out that it is against the KFA's own regulations to let a technical executive pull double duty with the National Teams Committee.
"The KFA's board of directors never once discussed giving Lee that control. There is no record of that," Kang said, accusing Chung Mong-gyu of committing perjury when he claimed there are documents stating that transfer.
Park Soo-hyun, a third DP lawmaker, said Lee should only have interviewed candidates after Chung Hae-sung quit, and that Lee had no right to make the final coaching selection.
Lee had previously claimed five National Teams Committee members had consented to having him take over the hiring process. During Tuesday's parliamentary session, DP Rep. Min Hyung-bae presented a series of text messages that Lee had sent to one member, trying to persuade that member to let him run the show.
The member, whose identity was withheld, responded, "I am sorry. You should try to proceed without me."
Min charged that this indicates Lee did not have the green light from five members as he claimed earlier.
In the face of persistent questions from Min, Lee, overcome with emotion, said he would quit.
"I say this with my honor at stake. I did receive consent from five members," Lee said. "I cannot agree with the idea that I didn't get the necessary consent." (Yonhap)
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