The Korea Football Association said it was an incident that occurred more than a decade ago that they had not been aware of. Park Moon-sung said, "Who wrote this apology? It is ridiculous."

South Korean football federation (KF) president Pak Won-sung voiced his anger over the federation's apology statement, claiming that many within the organization were unaware of a "decades-old incident." He criticized the federation's phrasing as irresponsible, citing expressions like "many internal members were unaware of this incident from decades ago," "widespread external criticism and blame," and "raised external standards."

Pak questioned in a social media post, "How can one with a mind like that write such a statement?" and added, "I don't want to hear about this incident from decades ago, and I don't want to hear about the external criticism of the federation." He further questioned why these issues resurfaced now, suggesting it was time to move on.

Pak warned, "Please stop this nonsense. Those who confirmed and confirmed this article should withdraw from it. The responsibility lies in concrete actions, not apologies." The KF later issued a statement apologizing for any "inappropriate actions or card usage," expressing regret that the achievements of national team players would be misunderstood or devalued by these events.

The controversy dates back to 2011-2012 when the federation had a history of questionable relationships with foreign referees and coaches in several matches leading up to the 2012 Asian Cup qualifiers. The issue resurfaced in 2016 through a cultural, sports, and tourism ministry audit, which was only recently disclosed by lawmaker Seon Yeon-mi of the Democratic Party.