ISU President Kim Jae-yeol Likely to Become IOC Member...If Elected, Korea Will Have Three Members for the First Time in 18 Years

Expected to be elected at the general meeting in mid-next month

Kim Jae-yeol (54), President of the International Skating Union (ISU) and President of Samsung Economic Research Institute, has been recommended as a new member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). With his election highly likely, if confirmed, it will mark the return of an era with three Korean IOC members after 18 years.

On the 8th, the IOC held an Executive Board meeting and recommended eight candidates, including President Kim, as new members. Given the significant influence of the Executive Board within the IOC and the fact that recommendations from the Executive Board have rarely been rejected historically, the atmosphere is that his appointment is virtually guaranteed. The final election will be decided by a vote at the 141st IOC Session held in Mumbai, India, from October 15 to 17. The IOC membership is capped at 115 members, consisting of 70 individuals, 30 representatives, and 15 athlete members. Currently, there are 99 active members.

Jae-Yeol Kim, President of the International Skating Union (ISU)

If President Kim is elected as a new member, the number of Korean IOC members will increase to three. Currently, there are two Korean IOC members: Lee Ki-heung, President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, and Yoo Seung-min. IOC members are categorized as individuals, representatives of National Olympic Committees (NOCs), representatives of International Federations (IFs), and athlete members with an eight-year term. President Lee was elected as an NOC representative at the 134th IOC Session in June 2019. Yoo Seung-min, a gold medalist in men's singles table tennis at the 2004 Athens Olympics, was elected as an athlete member during the athlete member vote held at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Following Yoo, whose term ends in 2024, golf gold medalist Park In-bi will run in the IOC athlete member election during the 2024 Paris Olympics. President Lee Ki-heung (68) is subject to the mandatory retirement age of 70, but under an exception rule allowing up to five members to extend their term by up to four years, if he succeeds in a third term, he can maintain his membership until age 74.

In the past, there were three Korean IOC members active simultaneously for three years from 2002 to 2005. Kim Un-yong, who led the globalization of Taekwondo, joined the IOC in 1986 and served until 2005. Lee Kun-hee was elected as an individual member and served from 1996 to 2017. Park Yong-sung served as an IOC member in his capacity as President of the International Judo Federation (IJF) from 2002 to 2007. Former Vice President Kim resigned after being indicted for embezzlement of sports organization funds, and Park lost his IOC membership automatically after stepping down as IJF President to focus on business. Lee stepped down in 2017 due to difficulties in activities caused by acute myocardial infarction.

If Kim Jae-yeol’s election is confirmed, he will become the second IOC member from the Samsung family. President Kim is the husband of Lee Seo-hyun (50), Chairwoman of the Samsung Welfare Foundation and the second daughter of the late Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of Samsung Group. Considering that only China, Japan, Italy (each with three members), and France (four members) have three or more IOC members, Korea’s standing in the international sports arena is expected to grow. This is also seen as a signal of Samsung’s return to the international sports diplomacy stage.

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