Korea's referee drought exposed again at 2026 FIFA World Cup

Korea's showing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup disappointed for more reasons than just the national team's exit in the round of 32. Equally troubling was the country's failure to produce a World Cup referee for a 24th consecutive year. Not since referee Kim Young-joo officiated at the 2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by Korea and Japan has a Korean center referee been appointed to the tournament. Even among assistant referees, there hasn't been any representation since Jeong Hae-sang's appearance at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. While the national team qualified for 11 straight World Cups, Korean referees repeatedly fell short of reaching football's biggest stage. Beginning in the 2010s, the Korea Football Association (KFA) appeared to invest in developing elite officials by designating promising referees as "special referees," a program intended to nurture future World Cup candidates. More than a decade later, however, the results have been disappointing. At this year's tournament, only one former participant in the program reached the preliminary candidate list, ultimately failing to ma