Kim Un-yong or Un Yong Kim (19 March 1931 – 3 October 2017) was a South Korean sports administrator, vice-president of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

, and founding member of the WTF executive board. Kim Un-yong was elected the president of the Korean Taekwondo Association on 23 January 1971. He received a doctorate in Political Science in 1963 from the

Yonsei University Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the " SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in th ...

. Kim retired from the WTF presidency in 2004 and was succeeded by Chungwon Choue. Kim Un-yong was elected the president of the

Korean Taekwondo Association Korea Taekwondo Association ( 한국 태권도 협회; 韓國跆拳道協會; KTA), originally the Korea Tang Soo Do Association (1961),Park, S. H. (1993): About the author. In H. H. Choi: ''Taekwon-Do: The Korean art of self-defence'', 3rd ed ...

on 23 January 1971. Though he initially declined the position due to the continued conflicts within the organization, he was asked by the Korean government to accept and to clean up the association. Believing that Taekwondo was a Korean martial art and its governing body should therefore be based in Korea, Dr. Kim dissolved the relationship between the Korean Taekwondo Association and the

International Taekwondo Federation International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) is an international taekwondo organization founded on March 22, 1966, by General Choi Hong Hi (Korean: 최홍희) in Seoul, South Korea. The ITF was founded to promote and encourage the growth of the K ...

. In 1973, the

World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo, called the World Taekwondo Federation until June 2017, is an international federation governing the sport of taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The ''World Taekwo ...

was formed and Dr. Kim was elected its first president. Kim played a significant role in debuting Taekwondo at the Olympics and helping South Korea host the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. In 2004, he was arrested for embezzlement and bribery charges and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison. Kim has served as President of the

Korean Olympic Committee The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (, Abbr.: KOC) is the National Olympic Committee of Republic of Korea (competing as Korea) for the Olympic Games movement and inbound sports issue. It is a non-profit organization that selects players and ...

, President of the 2002 Pusan Asian Games Organization Committee, President of the Korea Taekwondo Association, President of World Taekwondo Headquarters ( Kukkiwon), an Ambassador at Large with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Co-chairman of the Rebuilding Korea Committee, and internationally, he was the President of

GAISF Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) is the umbrella organisation for all (Olympic and non-Olympic) international sports federations as well as organisers of multi-sports games and sport-related international association ...

, Executive Board Member of the IOC, Chairman of the IOC Radio and Television Commission, and President of the World Taekwondo Federation. In December 2017 he posthumously appeared on the cover of

Tae Kwon Do Life Magazine ''Tae Kwon Do Life Magazine'' is a magazine devoted to the martial art of taekwondo, and is published in the United States of America. It was founded in 2016 by US Olympic Taekwondo coach and Grandmaster Yeon Hwan Park. The magazine appears in pr ...

in an issue dedicated to his contribution to the globalization of Taekwondo.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Un-yong 1931 births 2017 deaths South Korean politicians convicted of crimes International Olympic Committee members Sports executives and administrators Yonsei University alumni Prisoners and detainees of South Korea South Korean male taekwondo practitioners Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) People from Daegu President of the World Taekwondo Federation