Challenging the World: 21st-Century Sports Diplomacy and Peace

By Un-yong Kim

This book was written in 2002 by Kim Un-yong, former vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and updated shortly before his passing in 2017. A former diplomat, he turned his hand to sports administration when he became president of the Korean Taekwondo Association (1971).
He quickly founded the Kukkiwon (1972) and the World Taekwondo Federation (1973), and worked tirelessly to develop taekwondo, a Korean martial art, into a popular global sport. The IOC’s approval of taekwondo as an Olympic sport in 1994 was his crowning glory.
Kim Un-yong was instrumental in the successful bid for and staging of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Elected as an IOC member in 1986, and swiftly rising to become an executive board member (1988) and vice president (1992), he was a consummate sports diplomat on behalf of Korea and Korean sports for over 30 years.
This book will help readers understand the world of sports and the importance of sports diplomacy. Kim Un-yong describes his experiences with world sports figures, including former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, behind the scenes negotiations with North Koreans for the first historic joint march of North and South Korean athletes at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and how he was able to seize valuable opportunities for Korea and Korean sports so successfully.
He also describes the IOC presidential election in Moscow in 2001, where he came in second. Pyeongchang’s failed bid in 2003 for the 2010 Winter Olympics resulted in a cynical blame game among domestic politicians that led to his imprisonment in 2004. The prosecution against him drew condemnations from around the world and was strongly criticised by the United Nations Human Rights Commission. He was later pardoned and reinstated in 2008.
Despite setbacks and adversity (“challenges”), Kim Un-yong is full of positive memories of his colourful life. When life did not go as planned, he often took the second best option and turned them into remarkable successes. (“Taking the next best option and giving it my all brought surprisingly good results.”)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seoul Selection
• Release date: Apr 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781624121449

Book preview

Prologue

Time flies like an arrow. It has been 30 years since I first stepped foot in the sports world. Ever since, I have devoted myself to globalising Korean sports, putting my heart and soul into everything I did. Looking back, the moments of those years, both the glorious and the raw, pass before me like a moving panorama.

In 1971, when I was living out my childhood dream as a diplomat, I took my first steps as a sports administrator, something I had never expected to do. After many ups and downs, I took office as the president of the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA) and travelled down a new, singular path towards the globalisation of Korean sports.

Since then, I have been doing everything I can for my country through sports and sports diplomacy. I founded the Kukkiwon World Taekwondo Headquarters in order to establish taekwondo as the national sport of Korea, founded the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), and did my utmost to introduce taekwondo as an official sport to various international sports events to elevate it as a global sport.

The night when taekwondo, against all odds, was adopted as an official sport for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, I found myself unable to sleep, overwhelmed with a sea of emotions. And when it was again selected as an official event for the 2004 Athens Olympics, I felt my dignity and pride as a Korean swell. Being a permanent fixture in the Olympics was finally possible for our sport.

The effects of taekwondo’s participation in the Olympic Movement were not limited to just taekwondo. It led to the globalisation of Korean sports as a whole. I did my best for Seoul to host the 1978 World Shooting Championships, which became the stepping-stone for the city to host the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

I became an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member in 1986 and rose up within the ranks to become a member of the IOC executive board, then IOC vice president, in record speed. As I gained influence within the IOC, I used my position to develop sports in Korea and to promote Olympic ideals far and wide.

Korean sports risked decline after the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the only solution, I believed, was to continue to globalise. In 1993, I was elected as president of the Korea Sports Council (KSC) and the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC). Although this was essentially a part-time volunteer position, I ploughed ahead tirelessly despite increasingly heavy responsibilities. Even today, I continue to be actively involved in advancing Korean sports.

By hosting major world sports events in Korea such as the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) General Assembly, the World Sport for All Congress, the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) General Assembly, the IOC executive board meeting and IOC Session, the Busan East Asian Games, the Muju/Jeonju Winter Universiade, the Gangwon-do Winter Asian Games, the Busan Asian Games, Korea and Japan’s joint FIFA World Cup and the Summer Universiade Daegu in Korea, Korean sports were not only able to spread to Asia but also to the heart of world sports.

But hosting international sports events in Korea was not enough to globalise Korean sports. In reality, what the world really acknowledges is performance. For the very first time, we stood close to the pinnacle of sports leadership, among the world’s top 10 at the 1984 LA Olympics. Since becoming a powerful country in sports at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Korea has earned 116 gold medals at the Olympics and 320 overall Olympic medals (including group medals in team sports).

Oryungwan Stadium was established specifically for badminton and handball, the international skating rink was transformed into an all-weather training facility, and the athletes’ dormitories and cafeteria were newly built so that the athletes could concentrate on their training in an optimal environment. The Taebaek National Training Centre set up high-altitude training, and a new artificial turf was laid out for field hockey practices. Additionally, support funds for improving performance were given to each sport association, and athletes received a raise in their pensions.

These endeavours must have been worth the cost because athletes concentrated on improving their sports performance and boosted our achievements in international competitions, ranking in the world’s top 10 for the Winter and Summer Olympics 12 times in a row. Additionally, a multi-purpose stadium where five different sports can train, plus a women athletes’ dormitory, were built.

In 2000, the Sydney Olympics drew the world’s attention as the first Olympic Games in the 21st century. It was during these Games that Korean sports made another new mark in history. North and South Korea marched together during the opening and closing ceremonies, 55 years since Korea’s division in 1945. Seeing them march together into the Olympic Stadium, holding the flag of the Korean Peninsula, was a very emotional and historic moment in which I could see the barriers of physical division and political conflict come tumbling down. It was a paean to our long-cherished yearning for reunification and communicated a powerful emotional appeal for peace throughout the world.

Under the IOC’s aegis, we held a meeting with North Korean officials to achieve this momentous act. During the meeting, we were able to confirm our common identity as Koreans. Sports had provided the means for a new vision on both sides.

Although I had to experience the pain of defeat when I ran for the IOC presidency as the first person of colour in the 100-year history of the IOC, I have no regrets, for I have done everything in the spirit of fair play and that is what sports are all about.

Sports allow our youth to nurture healthy bodies and minds as they mature. Today’s increasingly secular society must make the most of the educational value that sports provide. Sports, inspired by Olympic ideals, will enrich all of humanity and its culture. They help lead to positive cultural movements and act as a means to mobilise welfare for a healthier, more peaceful society. The Olympic spirit will always be there to serve humanity!

I feel great pride in having travelled alongside the history of Korean sports and the Olympics for over 40 years. I feel a fresh set of emotions when I remember the many wonderful moments I experienced, especially those in which I took on new challenges and was able to bring fantastic victories to my country against all odds.

We still have many things to do for the advancement of Korean and Olympic sports. From re-enacting the Seoul Olympics’ glory by hosting the first Winter Olympics in Korea to galvanising school sports, investing in elite sports and the balanced advancement of ‘sports for all’, securing Korea’s position as a true global sports powerhouse and more.

I wrote this book by recollecting and putting together memories from the path which I have walked. I wrote it in the hope that it will be helpful not only to my successors in the sports world but also to younger generations. There may occasionally be areas that are lacking and parts which I have inadvertently overlooked. I seek your understanding on this.

Finally, I would like to thank the many people who have helped me come this far in publishing this book. I dedicate it to my wife and lifelong soulmate Park Dong-sook and my beloved children Helen, Jung-hoon, and Hae-jung. I do so from the heart and soul of Korea’s 1988 Seoul Olympics legacy, the Olympic Hall.

Dr. Kim Un-yong

March 2002

CHAPTER 1

As the president of the Korea Sports Council (KSC) and the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC)

Becoming the president of the KSC and KOC

The Korea Sports Council (KSC), commonly referred to as the ‘head temple of Korean sports’, was first established in 1920 during the Japanese occupation of Korea as the Chosun Sports Council. One intention behind its creation was to revive a sense of independence in the country’s resistance to the Japanese occupation; in this sense, the council can be seen as having fuelled the Korean liberation movement. This is why, although the Japanese had named the sports council Chosun Che-yuk-hyeop-hoe (Chosun Sports Association), the KSC removed the character ‘hyeop’ and named itself Chosun Che-yuk-hoe (Chosun Sports Society). It had been active during Japanese rule, although it was unfortunately disbanded by a Japanese order during the Pacific War (1941–45), ensuing the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). It was later independently revived as the Korea Sports Council.

The KSC, leading the effort to restore Korean sports, faced division and disruption with the establishment of the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) and the Korean School Sports Council. However, they were unified under the Three Sports Organisations Unification Order made by President Park Chung-hee in 1968. Since then, the KSC has served as the backbone of Korean sports.

Because the president of the KSC represents all sports groups in the country, many important people have held the position. From the First Republic (1948–60) to the Fifth Republic (1981–88), politics and those with political power greatly influenced the selection of the president. This is evidenced by the past presidents: Shin Ik-hee, Lee Ki-poong, Min Kwan-sik, Kim Taek-su, Roh Tae-woo, and Park Jong-gyu were all powerful political figures in their times.

In early 1993, many sports leaders earnestly requested that I run for president of the council. While the international status of Korean sports had already been elevated a great deal, the KSC and KOC still sorely lacked in credibility, and these leaders strongly believed that I could follow up on the success of the events of 1986 and 1988 and further strengthen Korean sports diplomacy.

Following the wave of democracy that was sweeping the nation, the president of the KSC became an elected position. After Kim Jong-ha left the presidency, Kim Chong-yul, a former rugby player, took his place. While Kim Chong-yul loved sports more than anyone else in the world, he lacked a certain international sensibility. Sports leaders were looking for a president that could stay ahead of the trends in global sports and develop Korea into a global sports capital. They recommended me as the most qualified individual. I had already served as the vice president of the KSC and the vice chairman of the KOC and was serving as the honorary secretary general of the KOC at the time. This is why I was well aware of how domestic sports organisations worked and able to maintain a stable position in international sports organisations as well. There is no doubt that the combination of my skills and experience led to me being highly sought after by other sports leaders.

At the time, as vice president of the IOC, chairman of the IOC Radio & Television Commission, and president of the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), I was already a global sports leader with numerous responsibilities. Taking the lead at the KSC and the KOC came as a significant added burden.

The president of the KSC had to lead the KOC as well, and although it was a pro bono, part-time, ‘volunteer’ position, the responsibilities were not insubstantial. Worse, it was heavily influenced by domestic Korean politics. The decision could not be made lightly.

Still, I had to ask myself the question: what was my ultimate objective in travelling the world, carrying out acts of diplomacy in the name of sports, endeavouring to globalise taekwondo, and leading an international sports organisation? Was it not to globalise Korean sports while raising the pride and confidence of the Korean people through those sports?

Inauguration ceremony as KSC and KOC president (26 February 1993).

In the end, I accepted the requests of the national sports leaders and registered my candidacy on 23 February 1993. I ran against Shyn Dong-wook, the president of the Korea Archery Association, and was elected, winning with 26 votes to his 13.

That was how my time as president of the KSC and the KOC started.

Some seemed mistakenly to regard the pro bono, part-time, honorary position as a ‘relaxing’ job, but there were many outstanding tasks to perform as the leader of sports in Korea. When I became president, Korean sports were going through a transition.

Although Koreans’ expectations for sports were inflated due to the success of the 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Olympic Games, the reality was that the national sports system was still developing. Korea still lacked the international presence and the sports diplomacy of a developed country, notwithstanding having been an Olympic Games host. Most people thought that this could be done by only the most developed countries. There was still so much to be done that I could not even grasp where to begin.

Foremost, I felt that improving our athletes’ competitive capability was the most pressing task to revive the passion of the events of 1986 and 1988.

A turning point in athletes’ training and welfare

The Taereung Training Centre, or Korea National Training Centre, which first opened in 1966, was extremely outdated 27 years later when I was elected president of the KSC in 1993. The dormitory, which was located on the former site of Korea National Sport University, was cramped and could only accommodate 200 athletes. After convincing related organisations and running here and there, I was able to finalise the plans for the construction of a new athletes’ dormitory; it was finished the following year. The newly constructed dormitory was not quite a five-star-hotel standard, but provided a comfortable, university-like environment for the coaches and athletes. Naming it the Olympic House instilled a sense of duty in them as well. Once the dormitory was constructed, the training facilities, which were also very old and outdated, became our next issue.

Construction and renovation were planned with prospective Olympic medal categories in mind. Contrary to the popular belief of the Korean public, the KSC’s budget was not generous. I had to acquire funds by meeting with and persuading people at the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the Ministry of Culture and Sports (now the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) by emphasising the national importance of the KSC’s efforts. After repeated meetings to convince the ministers and other government officials, the budget for the indoor track was acquired and the facility was opened in 2000. I proposed the idea of placing the handball and badminton courts in the centre of the 200-metre track, and the facility is now used for the training of all three sports in the winter.

A new artificial turf was installed on the old hockey field, which had been so worn out as to be rendered useless, and the foundations for the judo, gymnastics, fencing, table tennis, and taekwondo training facilities were laid.

I paid much attention to the construction of special training facilities during my tenure. At that time, Korean summer sports had been raised to an international standard with the 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Olympic Games, but winter sports were an undeveloped field. The biggest problem that winter-sport athletes faced was that they had nowhere to skate in the summer.

Once again, I met with a government official and succeeded in persuading him to convert the outdoor swimming pool into an indoor ice rink. The all-weather ice rink with a 400-metre track was the eighth biggest in the world, and our ski jump slopes in Muju were critically acclaimed as innovative training slopes at that time.

If the ski jump slopes had not been built, then the two gold medals Korea won at the Winter Universiade in 2003 would have remained but dreams and not even one ski jumper would have been nurtured in Korea. The indoor ice rink, converted from the outdoor swimming pool, also went through extensive renovations. It had been used for ice hockey, short track speed skating, and figure skating training, and it generated high humidity. The quality of the ice was poor because of the great distance between the ceiling and the surface of the ice. How could outstanding performances be expected from such training facilities? New ice pipes were installed to improve the rink’s conditions, and dehumidifiers were doubled to minimise humidity.

It was in 1997 that I first heard that our track athletes went to Kunming, China to receive adaptive training. When I asked why the athletes had to go to China and not stay in Korea to receive this training, I was given the response that the athletes could receive high-altitude training in Kunming. High altitudes doubled training efficiency. Still, I felt that going all the way to Kunming for training was inefficient and decided to build a high-altitude training site in Korea.

Finding a location higher than 1,000 metres above sea level was extremely difficult. After much deliberation, the final location was a site 1,300 metres above sea level, at the peak of Hambaeksan Mountain. The ground was weak, the wind was fierce, and the construction was inevitably complicated. After two years of difficult work, Korea’s first high-altitude training site opened in 1998. The facility is used for boxing, track and field, and cycling to this day, saving costs and providing a convenient domestic location for this kind of training.

Groundbreaking ceremony for the extension work on Taereung International Skating Rink (1996).

There is a place called Hanguk Gymnasium in Euljiro, Seoul. It had produced all of Korea’s athletes in fighting sports and judo, but it was just too old and cramped to be used anymore. For veteran athletes, it was a second home, but for others, it was like an outdated haunted house. Someone had to do something about it. The site was sold at the highest price possible, and we bought a new piece of land in Hannam-dong. There are seven tennis courts located in Hannam-dong at the moment, and the real estate prices have skyrocketed as well, which continue to contribute to the assets of the KSC.

Whenever I tried to execute an idea or plan, many problems often followed and they were, of course, usually related to budget. Because the KSC did not operate with an independent budget, there were always countless obstacles to overcome in order to get anything done.

The president of the KSC was entitled to a discretionary fund of 2.5 million won a month, which amounts to 30 million won (somewhat less than US$30,000) annually. I didn’t use a single penny of this money – I saved all of it and gave it out to my employees as a bonus on the holidays. Also, in order to encourage Korean athletes to aim for Olympic medals, I promised that gold medallists would be given $10,000, silver medallists $5,000, and bronze medallists $3,000. This was to raise their competitive spirits and motivation.

Modern sports are like a battlefield without cannons. Competitiveness in sports is considered a symbol of national power. For Korea, the successful results of the 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Olympic Games contributed enormously to its national image. In the 1986 Asian Games, Korea beat Japan for the first time in history and just barely missed first place by winning an equal number of gold medals with China. In the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea took fourth place overall and shocked sports superpowers all over the world. If Korean athletes had not achieved these results, then the historical meaning of the two Games may not have attracted such a spotlight.

The responsibilities of the president of the KSC and the KOC were extremely heavy at the time. Expectations had skyrocketed and in the fiery, competitive atmosphere of the times, the goal now could only be to continue charging forward and to win even more. I made improvements in the training facilities and the welfare of Korean athletes, but athletic capabilities and performance do not improve overnight.

With the wave of democracy that swept the nation in the early 90s, demands poured in from all fields of society. Korean sports received considerable support prior to this wave. From the 90s onward, however, sports budgets either remained the same or were reduced, and so did benefits for Korean medallists.

Most athletes started to neglect the so-called ‘3D’ (dirty, difficult, dangerous) sports. It seemed that the ‘hungry’ competitive spirit which had been previously characteristic of Korean athletes was dissipating, as many found themselves beneficiaries of the country’s increased economic prosperity.

It was at this point that I was first elected president of the KSC. Until the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, Korea was able to rank in the top 10 Olympic teams as Korean athletes from the 1988 Games had achieved good results. However, I think it was from then on that the problems began. It was time for a generational change. The athletes who had participated in the 1988 Games were too old or had retired, and new athletes replaced them. In the Olympics, when a country falls out of the top 10 range, it is extremely difficult to rise again. Experts claim that it takes about 20 years. In such a beleaguered environment, all that I could do was to articulate training plans, make in-depth data analyses of each country, provide the most efficient support (from our minimal budget), and inspire our athletes.

Look at the results of these efforts at the Summer Universiades: 13th place in Buffalo 1993, fifth place in Fukuoka 1995, ninth place in Sicily 1997, 11th place in Palma 1999, and eighth place in Beijing 2001. In the Universiade, Korea ranked around 10th place during my tenure. We did well in the Winter Universiades too, ranking second place in Jaca 1995, sixth place in Muju/Jeonju 1997, and second place in Zakopane 1993.

In 1994, at the Asian Games in Hiroshima, Korea took a very close third place, with only one gold medal’s difference between the host Japan’s second place. However, in Bangkok in 1998 and Busan in 2002, Korea took second place, beating Japan by a wide margin. Korea took an unfortunate fourth place in the 1996 Winter Asian Games in Harbin, China, but stepped up to second place when the Summer Asian Games came to Gangwon-do in 1999. Korea continues to maintain a reputation as the second most powerful sports country in Asia.

Therefore, rather than the Universiade or the Asian Games, the Korean people set their expectations on the Olympics. The Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, were my first Olympics as the president of the KSC and KOC. It was impossible not to be terribly nervous. However, our short track speed skaters surprised the whole world and brought new hopes and dreams to the Korean people.

The accomplishments of men and women speed skaters such as Kim Ki-hoon, Chae Ji-hoon, Lee Joon-ho, Chun Lee-kyung, Won Hye-kyung, An Sang-mi, Kim So-hee, and Kim Yun-mi placed Korea at sixth place. This embossed Korea’s image as a short track powerhouse with four gold medals, plus one silver and one bronze. At the Nagano Olympics in 1998, Korea ranked ninth in short track with three gold medals, one silver, and two bronzes, but dropped to 14th place in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics with two gold medals and two silver medals. It was very unfortunate that a gold medal was taken away by Apolo Anton Ohno, but it still can be said that Korea had become an Olympic threat to the rest of the world in the 1990s.

Some say that Korean sports are too concentrated on single categories. However, every country has its strategic categories and its strong fields. For example, athletes from African countries tend to excel in running over other sports. Every country has categories in which its people tend to excel.

Olympic Medallists’ Night (1994). From left: Kim Mi-jung, Cho Youn-jeon, Kim Un-yong, Hyun Jung-hwa, Kim Ki-hoon, and Lee Erisa.

Targeted investment and training are also a strategy. Trying to excel in a category that is physically difficult or impossible is counterproductive. The first Summer Olympic Games I experienced as president of the KSC and KOC were in Atlanta in 1996. Even in the burning hot weather of over 40 degrees Celsius, our athletes performed very well. They brought home seven gold medals, 15 silver, and five bronze medals. The final ranking for Korea was eighth place, which was much better than I had expected. In the Sydney Olympics in 2000, alarm bells sounded for Korea, which had been making efforts to firmly establish itself as a top-10 Olympic nation. The Korean athletes performed as best as they could. However, obvious traces of generational change were visible. People went from being interested in amateur sports to being interested in professional sports. The passion for the Olympics had cooled off. Even in this environment, our athletes performed well but could not overcome their final hurdles. Many ended up winning silver medals. With eight gold medals, 10 silver, and 10 bronze, Korea ranked 12th (ninth place in medals ranking), but it showed that the generational transition of athletes was partially a success. I believe that this also opened the possibility of Korea re-entering the top 10.

Korea’s international sports competitiveness was in transition during my tenure. Youth competitions, which used to be held at the scale of national sporting events, were either reduced in scale or abolished. And the generation of athletes who had endured through this environment became athletes in the national teams. As most people’s interest lay in professional athletes, amateurs were often misguided and experienced a fairly chaotic period. Due to the IMF crisis in 1997, sports came to be considered a luxury, and support for sports plummeted. During these times, I went from place to place, trying to encourage people’s hopes and bolster their courage through sports. The take-off and landing of international competitiveness was the next best option for the next generation of Korean athletes to re-emerge with a vigorous challenge to the world.

Turning Korea into a Mecca of global sports

The 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Olympic Games were not the end of the globalisation of Korean sports. In fact, they were only the beginning. The media referred to Seoul’s selection as host of the 1988 Olympics as the ‘Miracle of Baden-Baden’. The reason that the word ‘miracle’ was so easily accepted was because we knew Korea’s sports diplomacy was frail at best. That Seoul came to host the 1988 Olympics was indeed something great that seemed to have been created out of almost nothing at all.

Most people who lived through the 60s know that Korea was the second- or third-poorest country in Asia, with a lower per-capita GDP than most African countries, at the time. In the 70s, South Korea had fewer diplomatic ties than North Korea. It was hard to imagine that Korea, a small, unfamiliar country somewhere in the Far East, could host the Olympics, something that only the leading nations of the world could do. In the late 70s, Korean sports’ biggest mission was to ‘beat North Korea, and not fall far behind Japan’. How was it possible to even care about sports diplomacy at the time?

The focal point of sports diplomacy is different from diplomatic policies of the government or its institutions. While it is free from formality, it must be based on good human relationships. This is exactly why healthy sports diplomacy cannot be accomplished overnight. The first steps towards developing sports diplomacy involve meeting and talking as often as possible with foreign sports leaders and forming a sound basis of trust, understanding and friendship.

After I became the KSC and KOC president, the Korean media nicknamed me Dong Bang Bool Pae, an ancient Chinese phrase that means ‘the undefeatable man of the East’. The media started calling me this because I always managed to achieve success in Korean bids for international conferences and competitions.

However, the legend of Dong Bang Bool Pae did not arise overnight. I faced many problems after becoming the president of the KSC and KOC. One of the most pressing issues was the fact that a meaningful follow-up to the successful 1988 Seoul Olympics was necessary. It was the best opportunity that we had ever received, but we let it slip away too easily. Korea, a country that had been lost in abject poverty following the ravages of the Korean War (1950–53), had experienced rapid economic development and succeeded in making the rest of the world recognise its capability and vision through the Seoul Olympics, but its lack of experience failed to create lasting synergistic effects.

Five years had passed since the 1988 Seoul Olympics when I assumed the position of KSC president. My task was to rekindle the burnt-out embers of the Olympic passion. Ever since I was a child, my dream was to become a diplomat for Korea, and in my youth, I had engaged in diplomatic service. While posted at the UN headquarters in New York and at Korean embassies in the US and the UK, I made many friends and developed an international sensibility. With the establishment of the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA) in 1971, globalisation was the most critical task at hand. The reason that I rushed into establishing the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and the World Taekwondo Championships was because I instinctively sensed that without globalisation, taekwondo would eventually be lost in history.

Sport is a living organism. It must constantly move and develop. In order to make the accomplishments of the 1988 Seoul Olympics last, and for Korea to become more open and international, it was important to make efforts to host various international sporting events in the country. After leading the taekwondo globalisation movement from the early 70s, I had made many international friends in the sports business. Also, 10 years as GAISF president as well as becoming an IOC member in 1986 helped me meet international leaders and gain valuable experience.

With IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch during the GAISF General Assembly held in Seoul (1995).

I rapidly consolidated my position inside the IOC as well. I had focused entirely on the expansion and promotion of the Olympic Movement and, in 1988, I became a member of the IOC executive board. In 1992, at the 99th IOC meeting in Barcelona, I became vice president. Owing to my influential position within the IOC, when I was elected as the president of the KSC and KOC in 1993, sports figures from around the world became greatly interested in Korea. Global sports superpowers raced to make cooperative agreements with Korea, and suggestions for adaptive training exchange programmes poured in.

All these circumstances significantly accelerated the promotion of Korean sports. An IOC member must represent the IOC in furthering the Olympic Movement throughout the world, not prioritise representing one’s own country. However, isn’t it only fair that a person in my position also yearns for the development of one’s home country? Moreover, was I not the president of the KSC and KOC? My plan