Jung Mong-won, President of the Korea Ice Hockey Association, Inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] Chung Mong-won, Chairman of Halla Group and Chairman of the Korea Ice Hockey Association, has been inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Ice Hockey Hall of Fame.

On the 5th (Korean time), IIHF announced six inductees (five players, one builder) for the 2020 Hall of Fame, including Chairman Chung. He was inducted as a Builder, a category recognizing individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of ice hockey as a coach and administrator.

The official induction ceremony for Chairman Chung into the IIHF Hall of Fame will be held on May 25 in Zurich, Switzerland, the final day of the 2020 IIHF World Championship.

Chairman Chung’s connection with ice hockey began in 1994 with the founding of the men's corporate ice hockey team Mando Winia (the predecessor of Anyang Halla). Over the past 25 years, he has worked tirelessly for the advancement and internationalization of Korean ice hockey. Following Tsutsumi Yoshiaki, Kawabuchi Tsutomu, and Tomida Soichi (all from Japan), and Boris Alexandrov (Kazakhstan), he became the fifth Asian to be inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame.

Jung Mong-won, Chairman of Halla Group and Chairman of the Korea Ice Hockey Federation

IIHF highlighted that Chairman Chung’s unwavering will, effort, and dedication have greatly contributed to the development of not only Korean but also Asian League ice hockey.

In particular, IIHF emphasized that Korea’s participation in ice hockey at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics would not have been possible without Chairman Chung’s steadfast determination. The formation and participation of the unified North-South Korean women's ice hockey team, which attracted global attention as a "symbol of peace" at the PyeongChang Olympics, was also made possible by Chairman Chung’s vision, firm will, and dedication.

Even during the early 2000s when domestic men's corporate ice hockey teams were consecutively disbanding, Chairman Chung steadfastly maintained his team. To overcome the rapidly shrinking domestic base, he reached out to Japanese corporate teams in 2003 and launched a joint league, creating a breakthrough.

Despite the decision to host the 2011 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, IIHF hesitated to grant Korea automatic qualification as the host country, citing Korea as a "barren land in a state of underdevelopment" in ice hockey. In 2013, Chairman Chung took the helm of the Korea Ice Hockey Association with the goal of Olympic participation. Utilizing his diplomatic network, he persuaded IIHF and secured qualification for both the men's and women's national teams to participate in the 2014 PyeongChang Olympic Games.

After the PyeongChang Olympics, Chairman Chung has continued to actively promote the sustainable growth of Korean ice hockey. Under the plan to preserve the Gangneung Hockey Center, an Olympic legacy, as a dedicated ice hockey arena and development hub, the Legacy Cup, an international friendly tournament featuring the men's and women's national teams, was launched in Gangneung in February last year.

The second Legacy Cup tournament will be held at the Gangneung Hockey Center on the 7th. Prior to this, from January 28 to February 3, the 2020 Under-20 (U-20) Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group B tournament was held at the same venue, where the Korean U-20 national team achieved five consecutive wins to claim the championship.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.