[1] He was the goalkeeper of the South Korean national team for the 1948 Summer Olympics,[2] 1954 FIFA World Cup and 1954 Asian Games.

[1] In later life, Hong went blind due to complication of diabetes mellitus, which already had an impact on his eyesight during his professional years, requiring him to wear glasses on the pitch.

However, Korean players got airline tickets late, and arrived in Switzerland ten hours before the start of their first match.

They met Hungary in the worst condition after they took an airplane for 46 hours, and four players of them left the field in exhaustion during the match.

The substitute system didn't exist in football at the time, and so South Korea finished the match with only seven players.