Chung Mong-gyu resigned as head of the national football federation on Monday. The Korea Football Association (KFA) said Chung submitted his formal resignation letter earlier in the day after presiding over his final meeting with senior executives at Korea Football Park in Cheonan, some 90 kilometers south of Seoul. Chung had been at the helm since January 2013. On May 29, Chung announced he would step down as KFA president following the end of the ongoing FIFA World Cup. Although the tournament will end on July 20 in Korean time, Chung chose to leave his post two weeks ahead in the aftermath of the national team's earlier-than-expected elimination from the group stage. Korea, coached by Hong Myung-bo, finished third in Group A with three points from a win and two losses and could not squeeze into the last 16 as one of the eight best third-place teams. Hong resigned immediately after his team's fate was sealed. Chung had been under fire for what many critics claimed was an opaque process in hiring Hong in July 2024. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism conducted a wide-ranging prob