He’s the billionaire head of a multinational, family-dominated conglomerate and a former presidential candidate in South Korea — and now he wants to lead world football’s tarnished governing body, FIFA.
But who is Chung Mong-Joon, the man who confirmed his presidency bid Monday?
Chung is the sixth son of Chung Ju-Yung, who founded the powerful Hyundai Group, a vast industrial machine with interests that include construction, shipbuilding and car manufacturing — the Hyundai car company has actually been a major sponsor of FIFA since 1999.
After studying Economics at the prestigious Seoul National University, Chung went to the United States, where he obtained his Masters degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), followed by a PhD in international relations from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University.
When his father died in 2001, Chung became the controlling shareholder in South Korea’s second-biggest “chaebol” — Korean conglomerates, which are often family-run — after Samsung. The married father of four is currently worth a cool $1.2 billion, according to Forbes.
Political bids
Chung has also had political aspirations, which began in the late 1980s, when he stood as a conservative candidate for the National Assembly in the industrial heartland of Ulsan. He went on to serve seven terms.
In 2002, he stood for the country’s presidency representing his own party. Having been a pivotal figure in South Korea’s successful bid to host the 2002 World Cup with Japan, Chung’s campaign enjoyed a surge of support. But this proved to be short-lived when his alliance with eventual winner Roh Moo-hyun collapsed, and he dropped out of the race.
In 2012, he announced his intention to run for the conservative Saenuri Party’s nomination. But internal disagreements with the party’s leadership resulted in him dropping out. Party frontrunner Park Geun-hye went on to become South Korea’s first female president.
He again tasted defeat at the polls in 2014, this time when he ran as the mayoral candidate for Seoul.
Blatter ‘cannibal’
Chung has fared better in the world of football, however, gaining a reputation as one of Asia’s most respected sports administrators. He served as vice-president of FIFA and was head of the South Korean Football Association, before his crowning achievement in winning the right to co-host the 2002 World Cup — the first time the global showpiece had come to Asia.
Interestingly, his father was seen as largely responsible for Seoul’s success in bidding for the 1988 Olympic Games.
A long-term critic of incumbent FIFA chief Sepp Blatter, Chung threw his hat into the ring for the top job in 2011, before losing his seat on the world governing body’s executive committee to Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan. Prince Ali himself lost out to Blatter in this year’s race, before the 79-year old decided to step down amid a storm of corruption allegations against FIFA, paving the way for a new election race.
Chung recently described Blatter as like a “cannibal eating his parents and then crying like an orphan” as he continually dodges responsibility for the crisis FIFA finds itself mired in.
On Monday, the 63-year-old told journalists that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” when he confirmed he would stand for the FIFA presidency. “The real reason FIFA has become such a corrupt organization is because the same person and his cronies have been running it for 40 years,” he said at a press conference in Paris.
Chung has also found himself in close proximity to bribery scandals. In 2007, his brother Chung Mong-koo, chairman of Hyundai, was convicted of embezzling $100 million of company funds, but escaped jail due to the “huge economic impact” of his imprisonment.
A new FIFA president won’t be chosen until February 26, 2016, and candidates have until October 26 this year to secure the necessary backing from at least five FIFA member associations and add their name to the ballot sheet.
So far, Michel Platini, the head of European football body UEFA, Brazilian footballing great Zico, and Musa Bility, president of the Liberia Football Association, have confirmed their intention to run.
