Jung Mong-kyu, chairman of HDC Group (63), succeeded in securing a fourth term as president of the Korea Football Association (KFA) with an overwhelming vote share despite numerous controversies.
On the afternoon of the 26th, at the first round of voting for the 55th KFA presidential election held at the Football Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Chairman Jung received 156 votes out of a total of 182 valid votes, far exceeding half, and was elected without a runoff. The result was an overwhelming 85.7% of the vote.
His competitors for the presidency, former national team coach Huh Jung-moo (71) and Shin Moon-sun, invited professor of the Sports Record Analysis Department at Myongji University Graduate School of Record Information Science (66), received 15 and 11 votes respectively. There was one invalid vote.
Jung, who was first elected as KFA president in January 2013, will now lead the football association, a massive sports organization with a budget in the 200 billion won range, for another four years until 2029. If he completes his term, he will match the record of Jung Mong-joon (1993?2009), honorary chairman of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, as the longest-serving KFA president with 16 years in office.
Chairman Chung Mong-gyu is giving his remarks after successfully securing his fourth term in the 55th Korea Football Association presidential election held at the Football Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 26th. [Photo by Yonhap News]
The path to the fourth term was arduous.
Jurgen Klinsmann, appointed as the national team coach in March 2023, faced criticism over his qualifications from the start. Ultimately, the national team, which had aimed for its first championship in 64 years at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, was eliminated in the semifinals after a poor performance, leading to Klinsmann’s dismissal. Following this, the association plunged into severe turmoil. Allegations arose that Klinsmann’s appointment was a unilateral decision by Chairman Jung, causing the process of selecting the next coach to falter. The appointment of the next national team coach was delayed by six months, during which time Hwang Sun-hong, then coach of the under-23 (U-23) team, and Kim Do-hoon served as interim national team coaches. The U-23 team suffered the disappointment of failing to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics while Hwang was also handling the senior team coaching duties.
After many twists and turns, Hong Myung-bo took the helm again in July last year after about 10 years, but controversies did not subside. Questions about the fairness of Hong’s appointment process arose, prompting intervention from the government and the National Assembly to resolve the situation.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism conducted an audit not only of Hong’s appointment process but also of the overall administration of the KFA. The audit revealed that most of the allegations regarding Chairman Jung’s role in Klinsmann’s appointment were true. The ministry demanded that the KFA impose a "suspension of qualifications or more severe disciplinary action" on Chairman Jung, effectively signaling that his bid for a fourth term should not be allowed.
This issue also became a point of contention during the recent KFA presidential election.
The association originally planned to hold the election on January 8. However, prior to the election, former coach Huh Jung-moo raised concerns about the transparency and fairness of the electorate and filed an injunction with the court. The court granted the injunction a day before the election, resulting in an indefinite postponement.
After the election date was reset to February 26, Huh and Professor Shin argued that according to the association’s bylaws, anyone who has received disciplinary action of suspension or higher cannot serve as a KFA executive, claiming that Chairman Jung, as a "subject of severe disciplinary action," was ineligible to run.
On January 21, about ten days before the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s disciplinary deadline of February 3, the KFA filed an administrative lawsuit seeking cancellation of the ministry’s disciplinary demand against Chairman Jung and other executives. Alongside this, they filed a request for suspension of the disciplinary action’s enforcement. The court approved this request on February 11, allowing Chairman Jung to run as a candidate without legal impediments. Ultimately, he won the election by a landslide and will lead Korean football administration for another four years.
Given that massive projects are underway, including the Cheonan Football Complex Center with a budget of approximately 94 billion won this year alone, the establishment of a division system to break down barriers between professional leagues K League 1, K League 2 (second division), semi-professional K3 and K4 leagues, and amateur K5, K6, and K7 leagues, football stakeholders appear to have "retrusted" Chairman Jung to stably complete these initiatives rather than pursue change.
However, Chairman Jung still faces numerous challenges, including resolving conflicts with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the main governing body. The main lawsuit regarding the ministry’s demand for severe disciplinary action is still ongoing.
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