South Korean President Expresses Dissatisfaction with Football Federation: 'We Will Take Action Immediately'

The President of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, expressed his dissatisfaction after his national team was eliminated from the 2026 World Cup. The team, which was strengthened by players such as In-Beom Hwang, had waited for three days as third place in Group A before receiving bad news on the night between Saturday and Sunday. Positive results from DR Congo and Algeria against Uzbekistan (3-1) and Austria (3-3) meant that South Korea was not included in the eight best teams ranked third.

"When loyalty and politics take precedence over competence, unsatisfactory results are inevitable," said Myung, highlighting the selection process that appointed Hong to the position of coach. "I apologize to the people for the deep disappointment caused by this unacceptable elimination. We will immediately take action to reform the football federation so that incidents like this do not happen again," he added via his X account. Thus, the end of South Korea's controversial participation in the World Cup, which had previously faced various problems.