Korea Football Association Makes Official Statement Regarding Their Stance On Controversial Player Who Was Involved In A Sex Scandal

National player Hwang Ui Jo was embroiled in controversy earlier in 2023. In May 2023, an online source that named themselves as his ex-girlfriend posted sex tapes of Hwang and another ex-girlfriend, claiming that Hwang cheated on them. Later on, Hwang sued the source for blackmail, claiming that they were not related to him romantically. He alleged that they had hacked his lost phone and blackmailed him for money using the videos.

The case was revised in November 2023, when the police investigated Hwang for potential illegal filming. They questioned if the videos had been filmed illegally or with consent. On November 20, Hwang stated through his legal representative that the videos had been filmed with consent.

What we are sure of is that the videos were agreed on by his ex-girlfriend at that time, and Hwang Ui Jo does not have the videos currently. He did not leak them either. The videos were absolutely kept private by him in his personal handphone, which was lost in Greece, November 2022. We suspect theft of the phone. Not only were the videos used to threaten him, but also his private conversations with his acquaintances.

— Hwang’s legal representative

On November 21, 2023, just ahead of the national team’s match with China for the World Cup, the Korea Football Association gave a statement regarding Hwang.

We are paying attention to the matter, and we plan on responding to it after carefully looking over the results of the police investigation.

— Korea Football Association

A clause in the rules for national players states that “as each player is a representative of their nation, they must not partake in any action that causes disgrace, and they must maintain responsibility and morality to the society.” Hwang would be in danger of violating this clause if the videos had been filmed illegally. There would then be sufficient grounds to rescind his position on the national team.

Hwang recently scored a goal in the preliminaries with Singapore on November 16, 2023. He is a key player to the national team.