Chung Hwan Kwak to resign as K-League President

Timothy Elder
January 13, 2011

Chung Hwan Kwak will resign as president of K-League, South Korea's professional soccer league, it has been learned.

[This is my translation of a Korean language article that is available at the following link. sports.khan.co.kr/news/sk_index.html?cat=viewandart_id=201101131952073andsec_id=520101]

Kwak is scheduled to announce his resignation on Jan. 14 by way of the first K-League board of directors meeting for 2011. More than one person affiliated with soccer in Korea said on the 13th, "I understand that President Kwak, after struggling over the issue, has made his decision and chosen the path of resigning." Kwak's resignation, coming on the heels of the recent failure of Chung Mong Joon to win reelection as FIFA vice president, will represent the loss of yet another major figure in Korean soccer.

Kwak was elected to the position of president of the Korea Football Federation in 2005. He is serving his third term, which runs until December 2011. It is understood that he is resigning to take responsibility for the decline in the popularity of K-League and the lack of administrative ability.

President Kwak has been under criticism for his failure to attract a title sponsor for the 2009 regular season and for failing to revive Korean soccer by resolving the issue of low payments for television broadcast rights. He has been under pressure to resign for the lack of management and marketing strategies and for failing to present a clear vision for the introduction of the up-down league system scheduled to be implemented in 2013.

Once President Kwak officially announces his resignation on the 14th, it is expected that the discussion regarding his successor will proceed quickly. In recent years, the presidency of the Korea Football Federation has been held by a team owner, but there is movement in some parts to bring in a major figure from outside the league. The Hyundai family, which suffered the failure of Chung Mong Joon to hold on to his position as FIFA vice president, may make a move to take over the K-League presidency.