'Samsung Family Son-in-law' Kim Jae-yeol, ISU President, Elected as 12th Korean IOC Member (Comprehensive)

Korea Holds 3 IOC Members for the First Time in 18 Years

Kim Jae-yeol, President of the International Skating Union (ISU) and President of Samsung Economic Research Institute, was elected as a new member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

On the 17th (Korean time), at the 141st IOC General Assembly held in Mumbai, India, Kim was overwhelmingly elected as a new IOC member with 72 votes in favor and 1 against out of 73 valid votes.

Kim became the 12th Korean IOC member in history, following Lee Ki-bung (1955?1960), Lee Sang-baek (1964?1966), Jang Ki-young (1967?1977), Kim Taek-su (1977?1983), Park Jong-gyu (1984?1985), Kim Un-yong (1986?2005), Lee Kun-hee (1996?2017), Park Yong-sung (2002?2007), Moon Dae-sung (2008?2016), Yoo Seung-min (2016?2024), and Lee Ki-heung (2019?).

Kim, the son-in-law of the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, continues the Samsung family’s legacy by serving in the IOC.

Kim Jae-yeol, President of the International Skating Union (ISU) and President of Samsung Economic Research Institute
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Last month, Kim was recommended as one of eight new member candidates by the IOC Executive Board, effectively securing his position as an IOC member. This is because the Executive Board, the IOC’s highest decision-making body, rarely has its proposals rejected in the General Assembly vote. The General Assembly, the IOC’s formal highest decision-making body, ratified the Executive Board’s recommendation for new members through voting.

Kim entered the sports world in 2010 as the International Vice President of the Korea Skating Union. He served as the President of the Skating Union from 2011 to 2016, was the head of the Korean delegation at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Vice President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, and International Vice Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, gaining experience in various key roles. He has also held positions at the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the IOC at each event, expanding his presence on the international sports stage.

Kim is the second Korean IOC member representing a specific International Federation (IF), following Park Yong-sung, former Doosan Group Chairman and former President of the International Judo Federation. In June last year, Kim was elected as the new ISU President for a four-year term, becoming the first non-European to hold the position in the federation’s 130-year history. Since maintaining IOC membership requires active service as an IF representative, Kim is expected to seek re-election in the next ISU presidential election in 2026. The ISU President can serve up to three consecutive terms (12 years).

With Kim’s election, South Korea has entered an era of three Korean IOC members simultaneously for the first time in 18 years, since 2002?2005 when the late Kim Un-yong, the late Lee Kun-hee, and Park Yong-sung served together.

Yoo Seung-min, elected by athletes’ votes during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics as an athlete member, will complete his term at the 2024 Paris Olympics. If “Golf Queen” Park In-bi is elected as a new athlete member with an eight-year term at the Paris Olympics next year, the era of three Korean IOC members could continue long-term.

Lee Ki-heung (68), President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and IOC member since 2019 as a National Olympic Committee (NOC) representative, has two years left in his term due to the IOC’s retirement age rule of 70. However, the IOC has an exception allowing up to five members who have reached retirement age to extend their terms for up to four years through a vote at the IOC General Assembly.

The IOC has a maximum of 115 members. Members consist of 70 individuals qualified personally, and 15 each from NOC representatives, IF representatives, and athlete members with eight-year terms. The Olympic Charter stipulates the retirement age for IOC members as 80 for those elected before 1999 and 70 for those elected after.

Including the eight newly elected members today, there are currently 107 active IOC members, with France having the most at four. South Korea, along with China, Japan, Italy, Germany, and Sweden, each have three IOC members.

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