Having only one member on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is a disgrace for a sports and economic power such as South Korea, which has hosted such major global sports as the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics and the 2002 World Cup, among others.
Much to our regret, Park Yong-sung, chairman of Doosan Heavy Industries, automatically lost his IOC membership last week when he resigned as president of the International Judo Federation (IJF).
Park's departure from the world sports governing body makes Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee the sole Korean IOC member. The nation had three IOC seats until then IOC vice president Kim Un-yong resigned in 2004.
Park's case reminds us of the shocking loss of PyeongChang to Sochi, absolutely backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the final vote to select the venue for the 2014 Winter Games in July. Furthermore, Gangwon Gov. Kim Jin-sun declared last week the city's third bid for the global winter sports extravaganza to be held in 2018. And the loss of one IOC seat is certainly a serious setback to the city's campaign inside the IOC.
It is no doubt that South Korea's voice will be weakened considerably in international sports diplomacy as Park lost his 12-year IJF leadership and six-year IOC membership.
The diminishing voice of South Korea in the sports world is feared to frustrate its activity in various sporting events like the IOC-led talks to discuss the formation of a single Korean team for next year's Beijing Summer Olympics.
The nation's weakening status is also likely to backfire in various international competitions. South Korea has brought the case of the ``biased referees from the Middle East'' of the just-finished Asian men's handball preliminaries for Beijing Games to the IOC. However, who will speak for the nation in the IOC, except for its sole IOC member, Lee Kun-hee.
To recall, the nation was very successful in the world's sports diplomacy before PyeongChang's failure. Daegu won the right to host the 2011 World Athletic Championships, while the western port city of Incheon was chosen as the venue of the 2014 Summer Asian Games.
After Kim Un-yong was forced to leave the IOC in disgrace due to his misconduct that put him behind the bars, Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) Chairman Kim Jung-kil tried, in vain, to join the IOC in October 2005. The KOC head, however, quit his candidacy in March this year to ``help PyeongChang win the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games,'' although the Korean city later lost to Russia's Sochi.
At present, South Korea has two international sports federation presidents _ Choue Chung-won of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and Kang Young-joong of the International Badminton Federation (BWF). The two are potential candidates for the IOC membership as the head of Olympic sports governing bodies.
Yet, Kang is facing a similar situation Park suffered. Some directors of the federation supporting a Malaysian vice president have threatened to seek a no-confidence vote against Kang. Therefore, Choue of the WTF appears to be a sole contender to fill the seat left by Park.
Now is the very time for government, business and sports circles to unite to work out fundamental programs to drastically strengthen the nation's sports diplomatic power in order not to suffer any disadvantage in international sports activities. Initial efforts should be focused on producing the successor of Park as soon as possible.