With the arrest of the
vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Kim
Un-yong, best known as the representative of Korean sports in
international sporting society, the status of Korean athletics
is expected to decline. In addition, the position of Taekwondo
as an international sport is likely to be weakened, since Kim
was instrumental, if not Herculean, in successfully having Taekwondo
recognized as an official Olympic sport.
On last Saturday, the IOC suspended Kim of his rights, privileges,
and duties. The move was based on the advice of the committee’s
Ethics Commission, and Kim is to be suspended until Korean prosecutors
and the commission finished their investigations. The IOC theoretically
could even disbar Kim, regardless of the legal judgment made by
the Korean prosecutors.
According to the IOC Charter, those under investigation
for ethics violations and those who cause grave harm to the IOC
and to Olympic affairs can be dismissed from the organization
with the consent of more than two-thirds of the members present.
Domestic sports figures view suspension as the end of Kim tenure
as an IOC member.
If Kim, who has monopolized Korean sports' diplomatic
affairs for over 20 years, decamps so ingloriously, Korea’s
“sports diplomacy” will suffer a staggering blow.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism hastily devised and announced
on Wednesday a plan to foster elite sports diplomats to minimize
the damage after Kim’s arrest. According to the plan, the
government is to form a human resource pool for sports diplomacy,
and will provide language training opportunities for future sports
diplomats.
Korea is currently represented by two other IOC
members, besides Kim: Lee Kun-hee and Park Yong-sung. Since both
are businessmen, however, they have not been able to work as competently
and as committed sports diplomats as has Kim. Moreover, Park's
tenure as an IOC member ends in October 2005, since he obtained
the IOC membership on behalf of the International Judo Federation,
of which is the president.
But it is the future of Taekwondo as an Olympic
sport, that is in doubt: Kim was the driving force behind the
decision, which was taken for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
Many Taekwondo practitioners believe that Kim’s
arrest will not mean that the sport will be removed from the list
of the official Olympic games. It was not mentioned as one of
the three sports -- softball, baseball, and modern pentathlon
-- which were recommended to be excluded from the Olympic program
at the 114th IOC Session, held in Mexico City in November 2002.
In addition, since Taekwondo now has a depth of players around
the globe, the martial art qualifies as an Olympic sport, its
proponents say.
Competition against 2008 Summer Olympics host China's
Wu Shu and Japan's Karate seems inevitable. If the issues of unpopularity
or disputes on the referees' judgments arise, Taekwondo's future
will be even more endangered, the sports insiders say.
News from Chosun Ilbo, South Korea
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