The Sports Council Reacts to the National Office for Corruption Investigation's Request for Investigation as "Illegal Election Interference"

Office for Government Policy Coordination Requests Investigation into Chairman Lee Ki-heung's Embezzlement
"Announcement Ahead of Reappointment Review... Strict Reinvestigation Requested"

The Korea Sports Council has rebutted the announcement by the Government Joint Public Service Inspection Team (Inspection Team) of the Office for Government Policy Coordination regarding allegations of misconduct.

Lee Ki-heung, President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee.

On the 10th, the Korea Sports Council stated in a press release, "We declare that we cannot agree with the announcement of the misconduct inspection results by the Office for Government Policy Coordination," emphasizing, "The announcement was made just two days before the reappointment review of Korea Sports Council President Lee Ki-heung and other heads of sports organizations, raising suspicions of illegal election interference."

The Inspection Team of the Office for Government Policy Coordination revealed that after about a month of inspection, they have requested investigations into eight individuals, including President Lee, on charges such as obstruction of business, bribery, embezzlement, and breach of trust. They also identified other violations, including inappropriate remarks by President Lee and improper use of business promotion expenses, and decided to notify the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to take related legal actions against 11 individuals (including those under investigation and seven overlapping persons).

In response to the Office for Government Policy Coordination's criticism that the Korea Sports Council evaded requests for document submission, the Council argued, "Over three months following the Paris Olympics, we have simultaneously undergone hearings by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, national audits, on-site investigations by the Office for Government Policy Coordination, and audits by the Board of Audit and Inspection." They added, "During this process, members of the Korea Sports Council have been repeatedly investigated by multiple agencies on the same matters, leading to fatigue and some staff experiencing panic attacks." Furthermore, they earnestly requested, "We sincerely ask for a more rigorous reinvestigation of all the alleged misconduct pointed out today by the Office for Government Policy Coordination, including the operation of the observation team related to the Paris Olympics and requests for sponsorship of goods."

The announcement by the Inspection Team has drawn attention to whether President Lee’s bid for a third term will be approved. Having been elected president in the 2016 unified sports council election and approaching the end of his second term this year, President Lee submitted related review materials to the Korea Sports Council’s Sports Fairness Committee for his third-term bid. The Sports Fairness Committee held a subcommittee meeting on the 4th for the first review, and based on this, plans to conclude the approval decision for President Lee’s third-term bid at the full committee meeting scheduled for the 12th.

A Korea Sports Council official pointed out, "With President Lee’s third-term bid approval highly likely, the sudden announcement of the inspection results just two days before the full meeting of the Sports Fairness Committee can only be seen as an act intended to negatively influence the fairness committee members attending the review scheduled for the 12th."