Korean member Kim Jae-youl elected to IOC Executive Board
Kim Jae-youl, president of the International Skating Union and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), chats with reporters on the sidelines of the 145th IOC Session in Milan, Wednesday. Yonhap
MILAN — The lone South Korean member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been elected to its top decision-making body.
Kim Jae-youl, who is also president of the International Skating Union (ISU), received 84 votes out of 94 cast by his fellow IOC members to join the IOC's Executive Board during the 145th IOC Session on Wednesday in Milan, the host of this year's Winter Olympics. There were six abstentions.
Kim is only the second Korean member of the Executive Board, joining former IOC Vice President Kim Un-yong.
Founded in 1921, the board consists of the IOC president, four vice presidents and 10 other members. All the members have a four-year term.
According to the IOC, the Executive Board "assumes the general overall responsibility for the administration of the IOC." It is also responsible for managing the IOC's finances and overseeing the procedure for accepting and selecting candidatures for hosting the Olympic Games.
There were four candidates for three open seats on the board at this election. Along with Kim, Ingmar De Vos of Belgium, president of the International Equestrian Federation, and Neven Ilic of Chile, head of the Pan American Sports Organization, were also elected Wednesday.
President Lee Jae Myung offered his congratulations on Kim's election in a Facebook post, noting that South Korea continues to "expand the horizons of international sports diplomacy."
"This great accomplishment transcends individual glory," Lee wrote. "It carries tremendous significance in that South Korea will now take on even more of a leading role in the center of international sports governance."
"Kim's wealth of experience and brilliant leadership will lay a strong foundation for designing and leading the future of the Olympic Movement," Lee added. "I am counting on him to continue to broaden international cooperation through sport, on the basis of the Olympic values of fairness, transparency, peace and solidarity."
Lee offered the government's full support for sports diplomacy and vowed to play a role in the international community as "a responsible partner."
Chair of the IOC Athletes' Commission Emma Terho speaks during the 145th IOC Session in Milan, Italy, Wednesday. Reuters-Yonhap
Kim became an IOC member in October 2023, in his capacity as the head of the global governing body of an Olympic sport. He has been the ISU's president since June 2022.
Kim remains the only South Korean IOC member, and the 2018 Olympic bobsleigh silver medalist Won Yun-jong is seeking to join him this month. Won is in the running for a spot on the IOC's Athletes' Commission, where members will each serve an eight-year term but have the same rights and responsibilities as other members.
Kim, 57, is the son-in-law of late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, who was elected as an IOC member in 1996 and became an honorary member in 2017.
Previously, Kim was the Korea Skating Union's president from 2011 to 2016, executive vice president of international relations for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, vice president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and South Korea's chef de mission at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Also on Wednesday, former U.N. Under Secretary-General Kim Won-soo was elected to the IOC's Ethics Commission.
Kim, a career diplomat, is a close confidant of former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who served as head of the Ethics Commission from 2017 to 2025.
Kim, 69, will serve a four-year term, and he may be re-elected twice.
According to the IOC, the commission is made up of nine members, with its chair and four other members not being IOC members.
The Ethics Commission serves three key functions: drawing up and updating the Code of Ethics; examining potential violations of the code and proposing sanctions to the IOC Executive Board; and offering advice to the IOC on implementing the ethical principles.