[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung has issued a sharp rebuke following the national football team's elimination from the World Cup group stage. Labeling the outcome a failure of organization and personnel, he ordered the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the overseeing government body, to devise measures to prevent a recurrence.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin has the story.

[Reporter]

After the national football team's failure to advance to the round of 32 in the World Cup was confirmed, President Lee Jae-myung wrote on social media yesterday (June 28), "As a former honorary general manager of a professional football club and a Red Devils fan at heart, I feel beyond embarrassed; I feel absurd over this unexpected result."

He diagnosed the cause of this outcome as a "failure of organization and personnel."

President Lee pointed out, "It has been proven once again that personnel management is everything," adding, "If you select an incompetent person as a leader by prioritizing 'your side' or 'my side' over ability, the result is obvious."

He further emphasized, "The reason such flawed personnel decisions, which prioritize private interests over the public good, are possible is that monitoring, checks, and accountability for those with appointment authority are either impossible or difficult," adding, "For any organization, democratic composition and control, as well as the alignment of authority and responsibility, are crucial."

President Lee also requested that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which oversees the Korea Football Association, analyze the cause of this situation and thoroughly prepare measures to prevent a recurrence, noting that taxpayer money and national resources were invested in the World Cup participation.

In relation to this, a presidential office official told SBS, "The President is empathizing with the public outrage," and added, "It is not just about the result itself, but because there have been chronic issues discussed for some time."

Previously, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young also wrote on social media, "South Korean football, which has fallen into a quagmire, must start again from the bottom," and added, "It is time to create fundamental alternatives, identifying where things started to go wrong and what the root cause holding us back was."

(Video reporting: Kim Byung-ju | Video editing: Lee Seung-jin | Design: Jang Chae-woo)