Son Heung-min spared from hearing before national assembly following South Korea’s World Cup failure

The hearing was scheduled for July 22, featuring 13 witnesses and 10 references, according to the plan approved by the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee.

The proceedings aim to examine the team’s World Cup performance alongside allegations of Korean Football Association (KFA) misconduct in management and head coach appointments, according to SBS.

The most significant references are star players Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan. They were listed alongside former national team player Park Ji-sung, a current member of the FIFA Committee and co-chairman of the K-Football Innovation Committee, MK reported.

The summoning of Son, currently playing for Los Angeles FC, and Wolves forward Hwang drew criticism from the public.

An article in Chosun stated that summoning players under the pretext of investigating KFA management weaknesses was completely unreasonable. The publication noted concerns that the hearing could turn into a trivial event with performative purposes.

Following the backlash, the sports committee officially withdrew its decision to summon the two active players.

Representative Im Oh-kyung of the Democratic Party of Korea clarified that the purpose was never to burden the players, but rather to gather various perspectives for the hearing, Chosun reported.

Other key figures expected to testify are Choi Young-il, former national team coach Hong Myung-bo and former chairman of the National Team Strengthening Committee Chung Hae-seong.

Korean Football Association president Chung Mong-gyu and its vice president Park Hang-seo were also summoned.

However, witnesses and references are not legally obligated to attend.

Park has already traveled to Thailand to begin coaching Kanchanaburi FC in Thai League 2, making his attendance highly unlikely.

According to Chosunthe KFA will cooperate fully, but the association only confirmed that “current officials will attend.”

Following South Korea’s early exit at the World Cup, Park, Chung and coach Hong have resigned from their positions.

Hong insisted he would not evade his responsibility for the disappointing World Cup campaign, according to Aju Press.

Hong views the upcoming hearing as an opportunity to explain the facts to the public from his perspective, vowing not to avoid any questions. He emphasizes that the players and coaching staff who sacrificed so much have been caught in a storm, leading him to believe that remaining silent is no longer the right course of action.

South Korea started this World Cup strong with a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic, but following losses to Mexico and South Africa ultimately dashed their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.

The team finished 10th out of 12 third-placed teams in the group stage, failing to advance to the Round of 32, which took on the eight best third-placed teams. This is the first time South Korea have been eliminated in the World Cup group stage since the 2018 tournament in Russia.