"Korean football is dead!" That was the sign one fan held up at Incheon International Airport at 4 a.m. on Tuesday. It was, by most accounts, one of the politer messages.
South Korea's World Cup squad flew home from North America in the early hours specifically to avoid the chaos that daylight would have brought — and still needed over 160 riot police officers to get through the arrivals hall. Coach Hong Myung-bo, KFA president Chung Mong-gyu, and eight players including Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in walked a gauntlet of 50 to 100 furious supporters chanting "Hong Myung-bo, get out of Korea!" while one person threw a dog's dental chew at Chung's head. Not a metaphor. An actual dog chew.
A group stage exit that cut deep
South Korea lost to Mexico and South Africa while beating Czechia — not enough to advance. Analysts had backed this squad to come through the group comfortably, given the number of players based at European clubs. It didn't happen, and with Hong at the wheel, for many fans that was the unforgivable part.
This is the second time Hong has coached the national team. The first ended with a group stage exit in 2014. He is the only South Korean coach ever handed a second stint, and his 2024 appointment triggered a National Assembly investigation amid accusations that the KFA chose him through favoritism and corruption rather than merit. That investigation produced no meaningful outcome. The team's World Cup performance has reignited every unanswered question from it.
Fans demanded he return his multi-million won salary. The South Korean president, Lee Jae-myung, went further, posting publicly that "when you put an incompetent person in charge by prioritizing personal connections over their abilities, then it's easy to predict how things will play out." He then ordered the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to investigate how Hong was hired and ensure it can't happen again.
Lee Kang-in didn't look away
Most of the players kept their heads down as they passed through. Lee Kang-in — PSG's Champions League-winning midfielder, arguably the most recognizable face in that squad — stared directly at the crowd. Whatever he was thinking, the image stuck.
One supporter told AFP: "The poor results are one thing, but I think the people need an explanation for the poor results. It is regrettable that this responsibility was only addressed with a single resignation." Hong has stepped down, but for a large portion of South Korean football supporters, a resignation without accountability isn't closure — it's just someone leaving the room.
South Korean football now heads into a rebuilding cycle with a presidency-level spotlight on its governance, a scarred fanbase, and a hiring process that the government has described as corrupt. That's the actual problem beyond the World Cup exit. Any odds on the next qualifying campaign start with the KFA's credibility at near-zero.
