South Korean football coach Hong Myung-bo resigned Sunday following the team’s disappointing group-stage exit from the World Cup, a result that prompted fierce criticism from country President Lee Jae Myung, who described the coach as “incapable” and ordered a sweeping review of the national team program.
South Korea opened its campaign with a victory over the Czech Republic before suffering consecutive Group A defeats to South Africa and Mexico.
The team still harbored hopes of advancing as one of the tournament’s best third-place finishers, but those hopes were defeated on Saturday when Congo defeated Uzbekistan 3-1.
The early elimination stunned a team widely expected to reach the knockout stage and plunged the national program into turmoil.
Team coach Hong Myung-bo, 57 years old, announced his resignation before the squad departed its base camp in Mexico, where South Korea played all three of its group matches. He apologized to Korean fans and accepted responsibility for the team’s failure.
It was Hong’s second spell in charge of the national team. He also coached South Korea at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where the team likewise failed to progress beyond the group stage.
South Korea has qualified for the World Cup 11 consecutive times and reached the semifinals when it co-hosted the tournament in 2002.
President Lee has directed the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to conduct a comprehensive review of the national team program and the factors behind its latest World Cup failure.
