3rd meeting of the Power Enhancement Committee

It is questionable whether the process of appointing interim coach Hwang Sun-hong has progressed properly.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced at a briefing to the Korea Football Association (KFA) on Monday that Hwang will take the helm of the A team as interim coach. Hwang will then direct the third and fourth rounds of the second qualifying round for the 2026 North-Central American World Cup against Thailand, which will take place in March.

Regarding the reason for the appointment, Jung Hae-sung, chairman of the Korea Power Reinforcement Committee, said, "There have been cases in which other countries' associations also served as U23 and A teams at the same time if necessary," adding, "Coach Hwang is a leader of the association in charge of the Olympic team, showed achievements by winning the Asian Games, and has an understanding of international competition experience and Asian soccer."

However, it is questionable whether Hwang's appointment went through the proper procedure. To sum up what soccer officials said, the outcome of the second round of the conference was the appointment of an interim coach and the selection of candidates. However, Chung told a briefing, "I contacted Hwang Sun-hong on Saturday and received an answer yesterday (May 26) that he would accept the interim coach. At the third round of the conference, we decided whether to accept the first candidate or not." Chung's explanation was different from the previously announced results of the second round.

It is also out of order that the committee voted for Hwang's appointment at the third meeting. At the third meeting, the committee members should disclose their respective candidate groups, gather their opinions, and receive a response from the coaches. However, the committee already received the response and informed them at the third meeting. Han reportedly refuted the claim, saying, "Why coach Hwang Sun-hong?" at the third meeting, but nothing changed. The KFA has repeatedly called for a method of deciding the answer and obtaining consent.

Regardless of Hwang's successful appointment, it is worrisome that the KFA still seems to be a "top-down" approach. The KFA has already faced a setback due to its failure to appoint Jurgen Klinsmann. "There seems to be a misunderstanding in the process of appointing Klinsmann," KFA President Chung Mong-gyu explained in a press conference, but Chung's remarks were immediately proven to be false in an interview with Klinsmann, which was revealed by the German Spiegel. Still, there has been no change. Only a new member of the power reinforcement committee has been formed, and the process has not changed. Under this circumstance, a situation similar to the appointment of Jurgen Klinsmann could be repeated.

The association is taking the form that it is undergoing proper procedures for now. "In the future, the power-enhancing committee will continue to implement transparent procedures to ensure that the national soccer team can operate well without prejudice or external pressure," Chung said at the briefing before the Q&A session, giving the impression that the selection process was transparent. However, there is too much noise to say that the process is progressing properly.

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