Olympics chief jailed for bribery

International Olympic Committee Vice President Kim Un-yong was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison on embezzlement and bribery charges in Seoul today in a ruling that will probably end his long, powerful career at the IOC.

Kim, 73, says he will appeal the ruling by a Seoul district criminal court. But he now faces the likelihood of becoming the highest-ranking IOC member to be expelled. He narrowly escaped expulsion after the Salt Lake City bid scandal five years ago.

One of the most powerful officials in international sports, Kim was instrumental in Seoul’s hosting of the 1988 Olympics and persuaded the IOC to adopt taekwondo, Korea’s ancient martial art, as a formal medal event for the 2000 Olympics.

An IOC member since 1986 and an influential power broker, Kim unsuccessfully challenged Jacques Rogge for the IOC’s top job in 2001.

A three-judge panel convicted Kim of embezzling €2.4m from the World Taekwondo Federation, the World Taekwondo Headquarters – which issues taekwondo credentials – and other sports organisations he controlled.

Kim was also ordered to pay €599,600 in fines as compensation for illicit funds he collected from sports officials seeking his favour.

Prosecutors had earlier sought a seven-year jail term against Kim.

Judge Kim Byong-woon said Kim infuriated the court by sending letters to IOC members defaming the South Korean judiciary system.

But the court gave a lesser sentence after considering Kim’s contribution to “making the South Korean national sport of taekwondo into a global sport”, the judge said.

The court also cited Kim’s role in boosting sports exchanges with communist North Korea and his old age and severe case of high blood pressure.

An aide to Kim, Shin Bong-soo, said the sports official would appeal.

Kim has been under fire at home since last summer when he was accused of undermining South Korea’s bid for the 2010 Winter Games in favour of his own ambitions for IOC presidency.

South Korea’s Pyeongchang finished second to Vancouver, British Columbia, in IOC voting that took place simultaneously with the IOC presidential election in 2001.

In January, Kim resigned from top posts at the World Taekwondo Federation and the World Taekwondo Headquarters. He also stepped down as a national legislator.

The IOC executive board provisionally stripped Kim of all his Olympic duties on January 23, pending investigations by South Korean authorities and the IOC ethics commission. Kim was arrested four days later.

Prosecutors had earlier accused him of “turning sports organisations into private enterprises and lording over them as if he were a god”.

According to the court, Kim embezzled €532,200 of money donated by South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Company. The money had been given to the World Taekwondo Federation and the General Association of International Sports Federations, both of which were headed by Kim.

Kim was accused of using the money to help finance his IOC presidential bid in 2001.