Sports Fairness Committee of the Sports Council Allows Chairman Lee Ki-heung to Run for a Third Term Despite Suspension of Duties

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Lee Ki-heung, the current president of the Korea Sports Council (KSC) who is seeking a third term, has passed the first hurdle in his bid for re-election.

On the afternoon of the 12th, the KSC Sports Fairness Committee approved Lee’s application for a third term at the Olympic Hall in Songpa, Seoul. This approval allows Lee to run in the 42nd KSC presidential election scheduled for January 14 next year.

According to the current KSC bylaws, executives including the president are allowed only one consecutive re-election, and a third term requires review by the Sports Fairness Committee.

The Fairness Committee deliberates on exceptions for re-election of KSC and sports organization executives, and on this day, with a majority attendance and majority approval of attending members, it decided to allow Lee’s re-election.

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

The ‘exception’ clause in the KSC bylaws that allows passing the Fairness Committee review includes financial contributions, international competition results, and experience as an executive in international sports organizations. The committee’s evaluation criteria are scored out of 100 points, divided equally between quantitative and qualitative assessments, each weighted at 50 points.

The quantitative evaluation consists of factors such as advancement to international organization executive positions (10 points), financial contribution (10 points), and soundness of organization management (10 points). The qualitative evaluation assesses potential for advancement to international organization executive roles (20 points), vision for sports development (10 points), contributions during the term (10 points), and ethics and integrity (10 points).

Lee had already surpassed the internal evaluation score of 60 points in the first review, making his approval likely in the full committee meeting. However, concerns were raised about possible disapproval due to Lee reaching the IOC member retirement age in December next year, the investigation request by the Office for Government Policy Coordination, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s notification of ‘suspension from duty.’ The investigation request stemmed from allegations that Lee exerted pressure to unfairly hire a friend of his child during the 2022 recruitment process for staff at the national athletes’ village.

The suspension notification could have affected the ‘ethics and integrity’ evaluation category, but the Fairness Committee allowed the re-election after comprehensively considering Lee’s international roles and achievements related to the Paris Olympics.

On the same day, Lee initiated legal action by filing a lawsuit at the Seoul Administrative Court to cancel the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s suspension notification and applied for a provisional injunction to suspend its execution.