Lee Ki-heung: "Remove the term limit for heads of other sports organizations except me"
Lee Ki-heung: "Remove the term limit for heads of other sports organizations except me"
Blog Article
Lee Ki-heung, the president of the Korea Sports Council, has once again requested the Ministry of Culture, Sports and
Tourism, the competent ministry, to approve the revision of the Korea Sports Council’s articles of association that
abolishes the term limit for heads of sports organizations.
On the 4th, the Korea Sports Council held a temporary general meeting of delegates at the Olympic Parktel in Bangi-dong,
Songpa-gu, Seoul, and passed a revision to the articles of association that included the deletion of the provision limiting
the number of consecutive terms for sports organization heads that had been decided upon by the board of directors.
According to the current regulations of the Sports Council, executives, including the Sports Council President, can be
reappointed once after serving a four-year term, and can run for a third term if they pass the review of the Sports Fair Play
Committee under the Sports Council.
If the articles of association of the sports association are changed, the articles of association of member sports
organizations, city/provincial sports associations, and city/county/district sports associations that apply the articles of
association will also be changed, and the term limit for heads of sports organizations will be completely eliminated.
However, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo In-chon declared at a sports meeting two days ago, "I will
absolutely not approve the revision of the articles of association."
Lee Ki-heung, chairman of the Sports Association, emphasized the reason for the revision of the articles of association,
saying, "There is a lack of people who can serve as executives in sports organizations or local sports associations, and the
city, county, and district heads are people who pay for their own service, so it is impossible to create a fair committee to
review their reappointments one by one."
He continued, “We don’t have enough time to revise all of the amendments to the articles of association that have passed
the board of directors of the Korea Sports Council,” and said, “Except for the president of the Korea Sports Council
(himself), I ask that you remove the term limit provision for the heads of sports organizations,” and revised the
amendments to the articles of association right at the site of the general meeting of delegates.
The delegates responded to the chairman's proposed amendment with applause.
The chairman said, "I have said several times that I am not changing the articles of association in order to run for a third
term," adding, "It is okay to exclude me (the chairman of the Korea Sports Council), but the regulations on the
reappointment of other sports organization heads must be changed. I hope the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
will approve the proposed amendment. Only then can the 추천 election be held normally."
The election for the president of the Korea Sports Association will be held in January next year, and after the Paris
Olympics, elections for the presidents of member sports organizations, the presidents of the 17 city and provincial sports
associations, and the presidents of the 228 city, county, and district sports associations will follow.
Lee Ki-heung, chairman of the Korea Sports Council, directly criticized Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo In-
chon, who recently announced twice that the ministry would directly allocate budgets to local sports associations,
bypassing the Korea Sports Council.
The chairman emphasized, "It is absolutely wrong to say that the Sports Council is using hundreds of billions of won in
budget as it pleases," and "It is used after consulting with and obtaining approval from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and
Tourism. It is impossible for the Sports Council to use it independently in a situation where it is subject to regular audits
by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, audits by the Board of Audit and Inspection, and state audits."
The Sports Council protested, saying that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's direct execution of the budget
violated the National Sports Promotion Act, which requires it to go through the Sports Council, and that it was an abuse of
power by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The chairman responded to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official's statement that "the government
interprets the law," saying, "The courts make judgments, and the Constitutional Court makes the final interpretation of the
law," and then said, "Any other interpretation is arbitrary."
He emphasized, "During the 2016 state affairs corruption incident, the Supreme Court ruled that continuous and
unceasing pressure to push through something was an abuse of power," and "I think the forces that corrupted state affairs
have made a comeback. We need to reinvestigate those who created the blacklist of cultural and sports figures, and we will
raise the issue after the Paris Olympics."