The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, "Even with procedural defects, the appointment is not invalid."Hong Myungbo who took a breather?

■ Host: Anchor Jeong Jin-hyung and anchor Lee Eun-sol
■ Starring: Reporter of the Ministry of Sports, Youngsoo Kim

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN New Square 8PM] when quoting.

[Anchor]
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which looked into the process of appointing Hong Myung-bo, head coach of the national soccer team, concluded that there was a procedural defect. It is said that the Korea Football Association did not follow the relevant rules properly, but it is difficult to invalidate the appointment of coach Hong. I expressed this opinion. Let's listen to the details with Youngsoo Kim reporter from the sports department today. Please come in. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism made an interim announcement today about the results of the audit conducted for almost a month, and I will point out one by one. First of all, what's the point?

[Reporter]
In short, an unauthorized person proceeded with the process of appointing a director, and the process was insufficient. The appointment of the national team coach is handled by the Power Enhancement Committee within the Korea Football Association. The chairman here is former chairman Jung Hae-sung, who came out during the National Assembly's pending questions. As he stepped down from his position in the middle, he raised a lot of questions, but former chairman Jung Hae-sung came to the National Assembly and said he felt his limitations a lot and had health problems. Subsequently, the process was carried out by Lee Im-saeng, technical director. However, director Lee is neither a member of the power reinforcement committee nor a chairman of the committee. Nevertheless, he led the process of appointing director Hong Myung-bo and even presented himself. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism decided that this was a problem.

[Anchor]
What is the reason for the division between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Football Association?

[Reporter]
First of all, the basis of what the two agencies claim is different. This is a little complicated, but to explain, the 10th and 11th meetings of the Power Reinforcement Committee are important. Former chairman Jung Hae-sung, who I mentioned earlier, presided over the 10th meeting. I've been delegated all authority here. Afterwards, I reported three people to Chairman Chung Mong-gyu and received additional face-to-face interview instructions. But after that, he suddenly resigned. There is a saying that the chairman can also determine the ranking of candidates, which is what happened at the 10th meeting. So, a comprehensive opinion came out through 10 meetings, so based on that, the chairman wanted to judge the ranking and recommend it. However, he resigned after reporting to the chairman. That's the facts. After that, the judgment of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Football Association is different, but the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism believes that the role of the power reinforcement committee is not over here. I think the role is not over yet because I have to conduct this interview additionally. So Chairman Lee Im-saeng attended the 11th meeting, and Chairman Lee Im-saeng saw that he was only entrusted with access rights if it was not a recommendation right. As a basis for that, he explained that he analyzed the contents of the meeting by video. However, the Korea Football Association explains that the role of the power reinforcement committee has already ended after former chairman Chung Hae-sung recommended three people after the 10th meeting. But he suddenly resigned. From the perspective of the Korea Football Association, the person who led the process of appointing the coach is gone, so shouldn't something be sorted out? That's why I'm a senior technology director. He said he left it to a high-level official to deal with the situation. It is argued that he took the place so that the process could be continued. The 11th meeting is called a temporary online meeting by the Korea Football Association, and the reason why this meeting was held was to inform the committee members who had suffered during the 10th meeting and to gain support.

[Anchor]
But there was a lot of controversy over the interview process of director Hong Myung-bo. How did the Ministry of Culture decide on this part?

[Reporter]
It was no different from what was already known. There was a lot of talk when it became known that director Lee Im-saeng visited director Hong Myung-bo's house late at night and met him after waiting for a long time. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the process was opaque and unfair. And he pointed out that it was not common sense. There were no pre-questionnaires and no observers. He pointed out that these parts were very different from when he met a foreign director. He also explained that since this is a situation where only two people have a personal relationship, we don't know what the two of them met and what they talked about or whether this was actually an interview.

[Anchor]
a dubious conclusion The key to the suspicion was the interpretation of whether he was pushing to select director Hong Myung-bo. Is there an answer to this?

[Reporter]
There was a related question. First of all, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism believes that the Korea Football Association did not encourage illegal activities to select Hong Myung-bo. The conclusion of the 10th meeting. So, the conclusion made when former Chairman Jeong Hae-sung was present. When Coach Hong Myung-bo was listed as the first candidate, he explained that if the Korea Football Association had negotiated with Coach Hong Myung-bo at that time, such a problem would not appear now. Viewers may feel that the results are the same if they follow the procedure, but the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism once again emphasized that the process should be fair.

[Anchor]
Therefore, there is still a mutual dispute, but the appointment of Hong Myung-bo was not procedurally justified in the results of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism audit, and it was not justified. I came to this conclusion. But the World Cup qualifying round is in full swing right now. The game against Korea and Jordan is also scheduled next week. Then, I think there will be a lot of people who are curious about what will happen to director Hong Myung-bo in the future.

[Reporter]
It's probably the part that draws the most attention, but thank you for a long time. Not long ago, even President Yoon Suk Yeol mentioned it. So I was very curious about what kind of measures would come out, but we prepared a video of today's presentation. I think you'd better listen to it.

[Choi Hyun-joon / Inspector General of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism: Due to a defect in internal procedures during the appointment of director Hong Myung-bo, it is difficult for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to overlook it as a supervisory department due to public criticism. And because the independence of the football association should be respected.... It's also a professional field. We expect the Korea Football Association to review it on its own and make autonomous judgments in terms of public opinion, common sense, and fairness.

[Anchor]
You heard a briefing from Choi Hyun-joon, the inspector general of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and we expect the Korea Football Association to review it and make an autonomous judgment. So the process wasn't fair. Compared to these results, I think it's time for people to say, "Isn't the action weak?"

[Reporter]
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism cannot do this or that about the Korea Football Association. I also feel cautious. In addition, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism cannot invalidate the contract. I even made this explicit. That's why reporters asked a lot of questions about this. So the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued an additional statement. He said there are procedural violations and there is a need to correct them, but there is a need to respect professionalism and autonomy. As you saw in the auditor Choi Hyun-joon's announcement earlier, independence and autonomy are very emphasized. At the same time, he added that it gives him a chance to correct himself. He also said that if it is not properly taken, additional measures will be considered. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is now auditing the Korea Football Association not only for the controversy over the manager's appointment process, but also for the administration. So I think the comprehensive content will be announced at the end of this month.

[Anchor]
The Korea Football Association also issued a statement on the results of the interim audit by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, right?

[Reporter]
That's right. A six-page statement was distributed to the press corps. In general, all of the contents refuted the audit results. I explained the contents related to the Power Reinforcement Committee earlier. Regarding the interview, he explained that it was similar to going to Europe to meet directors in Europe or meeting director Hong Myung-bo. He also said that foreign coaches did not have a team to which they belonged, and Hong Myung-bo had a team to encourage decisions. The Korea Football Association also explained that the management regulations of the national team are not detailed. What it is is that at some point, where, who, what to do is not divided into details. So, just because you did something that didn't have regulations doesn't mean you can deny everything, he denied it to this effect. At the same time, regulations that do not reflect reality. He said he would make detailed rules and supplement these things that were pointed out this time. Perhaps because the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has released its own audit results, the Korea Football Association will soon come up with such measures. Also, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism should wait and see what judgment it will make about him.

[Anchor]
It's a very complicated issue, but you organized it well. The comprehensive content is expected to be announced again at the end of October, so we'll see how the results will come out until the end. I pointed it out with a reporter from the sports department, Youngsoo Kim. Thank you for talking today.