Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism “Sports based on fairness and rules…the basics are collapsing”
“He has absolutely no legal or moral qualifications… He must resign immediately.”
|
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo In-chon is answering questions from lawmakers at a question on pending issues held at the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 24th of last month. From the left, Korea Sports Council President Lee Ki-hong, Second Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Jang Mi-ran, Minister Yoo, Korea Football Association President Chung Mong-gyu, and Korea Badminton Association President Kim Taek-gyu. Reporter Go Iran photoeran@ |
The fallout is strong as the Sports Fair Committee of the Korea Sports Council approved Lee Ki-heung’s application for a third consecutive term as president of the Korea Sports Council. Sports unions, the government, and political circles all issued statements of criticism and condemned the Fair Trade Commission’s decision.
According to the sports world on the 13th, the sports union said, “We express deep regret over the decision of the Sports Fair Committee, which is out of line with the public’s expectations,” and criticized, “Chairman Lee Ki-heung should immediately stop privatizing the organization and humbly face the judgment of the law.”
The union said, “Chairman Lee’s irregularities and corruption are numerous, including hiring irregularities, breach of trust, harassment, and abuse of power, just from what was announced by the Public Service Inspection Team of the Office for Government Policy Coordination on the 10th,” and added, “No matter how elected an office is, it must comply with general standards and common sense.” “I do it,” he pointed out.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the responsible ministry, also announced in a press release the previous day, “We no longer expect fairness from the Korea Sports Council,” and “We plan to take corresponding administrative and financial measures.”
Regarding follow-up measures, an official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said on this day, “First of all, we are working on sending the 41.6 billion won that was provided to the Korea Sports Council directly to local governments.” He added, “Fairness and rules are the basics of sports, but the basics have been broken. It is very frustrating. “He said.
He added, “There is nothing that can be said clearly at this stage. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will continue its efforts for the healthy development of the sports world.”
Previously, on the 10th, the Government Joint Public Service Inspection Team of the Office for Government Policy Coordination arrested eight people, including Chairman Lee, for illegal hiring of employees (obstruction of business), requesting donations of goods (receiving money, etc.), using donations for personal purposes (embezzlement), and wasting budget (breach of trust). An investigation was requested.
The next day, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo In-chon, who attended the general meeting of the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, mentioned the possibility of suspending Chairman Lee, who is accused of various misconduct. A few hours later, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism notified Chairman Lee of his suspension in accordance with the ‘Act on the Management of Public Institutions’.
In response to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s decision, Chairman Lee filed a lawsuit against Minister Yoo on the 12th to cancel the notice of suspension and an application for a temporary injunction to suspend execution. Additionally, the Sports Fair Trade Commission ignored the government’s notice of suspension and approved Chairman Lee’s application to run for a third consecutive term.
When the Sports Fair Trade Commission ignored requests for an investigation into Chairman Lee and a notice of suspension, the political world also poured out strong criticism.
In relation to this, People Power Party lawmaker Jin Jong-oh criticized, “Which citizen would agree with the decision of the Sports Fair Trade Commission, under the false guise of fairness, to approve a second term for a person who is not legally or morally qualified to be president at all?”
He then criticized, “For whom does the Sports Fair Trade Commission, which has destroyed even the slightest hope, exist for?” and “Chairman Lee Ki-heung, who has been reduced to being the culprit of the sports world, should resign immediately and never come into the sports world again.”
Rep. Kim Seung-soo of the same party also said, “We cannot tolerate the approval of Chairman Lee Ki-heung, who is morally unqualified to be a public official, for a second term, and Chairman Kim Byeong-cheol, who approved the second term, must take responsibility and resign.”
Rep. Kim then argued, “The Sports Fair Committee, which has lost its ability to self-regulate, must be disbanded and the system must be improved so that it can operate independently.”
Meanwhile, Chairman Lee, who is on a business trip to the World Union of Olympic Cities (WUOC) summit held in Lausanne, Switzerland, will return home via Incheon Airport on the afternoon of the 13th. On this day, Chairman Lee plans to reveal his position on the controversy surrounding his bid for a third consecutive term.
[이투데이/송석주 기자 ([email protected])]
▶Premium economic newspaper EToday ▶Biz Entertainment
Etoday (www.etoday.co.kr), unauthorized reproduction, collection, and redistribution prohibited
The categories of this article follow the classification of media outlets.
The category an article belongs to is classified by the media company.
News organizations can classify an article into two or more categories.
