IOC Expresses Condolences on the Passing of Lee Kun-hee... "Greatly Contributed to the Success of the Olympics"

A photo of Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee (center front row) greeting at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) General Assembly held in July 2011 in South Africa. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The International Olympic Committee (IOC) mourned the passing of Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, calling him "a person who greatly contributed to the success of the Olympics."

Thomas Bach, IOC President, stated on the 25th (local time), "Chairman Lee Kun-hee not only supported the Olympics through the top partnership contract between Samsung and the IOC but also promoted the Olympics worldwide and significantly contributed to the success of the Olympic movement and the Olympic Games by advancing the bond between sports and culture." He added, "The late chairman's Olympic legacy will endure forever, and to honor his passing, the Olympic flag at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, will be flown at half-mast."

The IOC detailed Chairman Lee Kun-hee's biography, noting that just one year after he assumed the chairmanship, Samsung became a regional sponsor of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, marking the beginning of its relationship with the IOC. Since then, Samsung has participated as a top-level Olympic sponsor starting from the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics and, through two contract renewals, will support the Olympics for 30 years until the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

The IOC explained that due to the late chairman's connection with wrestling during his high school years, he served as the President of the Korea Wrestling Federation from 1982 to 1997 and also held the position of Vice Chairman of the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC). Furthermore, he was elected as an IOC member in 1996, participated in the Culture Commission (1997) and the Finance Commission (1998?1999), and after suffering an acute myocardial infarction in 2014 and battling illness, he voluntarily resigned from the IOC membership in 2017 and was appointed as an honorary member.