Lee Ki-heung Maintains IOC Membership and Eligible to Run for Korea Sports Council President Election

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Approves Bylaw Amendments Related to Sports Council President Election

Lee Ki-heung, President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee / Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] Lee Ki-heung, president of the Korea Sports Council, has been given the opportunity to run for the next Sports Council president election while retaining his status as an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member.

On the 13th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that it had decided to approve the Korea Sports Council's request to amend its articles of association regarding the Sports Council president election after comprehensively considering the legal validity and election fairness.

Previously, the Korea Sports Council had requested an amendment to the articles of association to change the current regulation that requires the incumbent president to resign 90 days before registering as a candidate for the next election, to a system where the president does not resign but operates under an acting president system.

Lee was elected as an IOC member in June last year as a representative of the National Olympic Committee (NOC). According to the existing regulations, he would have to resign from the presidency 90 days before the election scheduled for January next year to run for the next Sports Council president, and in that case, he would also lose his IOC membership elected as an NOC representative.

To prevent such a situation and reduce administrative gaps caused by the president's resignation, the Korea Sports Council amended the articles of association at the delegates' general meeting last April, changing the term 'resignation' to 'suspension of duties.' The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism had continuously requested the Korea Sports Council to strengthen fairness measures and delayed approval of the articles of association, expressing concerns that amending the current articles, which were established in 2016 to ensure election fairness during the integration of sports organizations, could undermine election fairness.

The Korea Sports Council accepted the ministry's opinion, prepared election fairness measures, and collected opinions through public hearings. The main contents of the election fairness measures include ▲ excluding involvement in secretariat affairs during the acting president period except for IOC-related duties such as domestic events ▲ forming the election management committee entirely with external members after consultation with the ministry ▲ changing the elector recommendation method from the existing 'organization recommendation followed by drawing lots' to 'random drawing of organizations followed by random selection by the election management committee' ▲ extending the election period from 12 days to 20 days ▲ holding and live broadcasting candidate policy debates ▲ and holding additional explanatory sessions on election fairness measures.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism approved the amendment of the Korea Sports Council's articles of association on the condition of promptly revising the election management regulations according to these measures and strictly adhering to the fairness measures in the future. A ministry official stated, "The Korea Sports Council president election will be conducted under the supervision of the National Election Commission and subject to the Entrusted Election Act. The ministry will do its best to oversee and ensure that the election proceeds according to the revised election management regulations so that it can be held in a fair environment."