Former IOC vice president Kim Un-yong dead at 86

Kim Un-yong / Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s former vice president Kim Un-yong died on Tuesday. He was 86.

Kim was admitted to Severance Hospital on Monday and pronounced dead at 2:21 a.m. Tuesday.

Kim played a powerful role on the IOC, which he joined in 1986.

He was instrumental in helping Seoul win the right to host the 1988 Summer Olympics and the World Cup in 2002.

Kim was also known as the godfather of Taekwondo in Korea.

He was founding president of the World Taekwondo Federation _ now World Taekwondo _ in 1971, and devoted himself to helping taekwondo become an Olympic sport.

Thanks to his efforts, Taekwondo has been an official Olympic sport since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Also, thanks to Kim’s efforts, South Korean and North Korean athletes marched together at the opening ceremony in Sydney.

In 2001, Kim stood for the IOC presidency, but lost to Jacques Rogge

The latter part of Kim's career was marred by corruption allegations and a conviction in Korea.

In 1999, Kim received "the most serious" warning from the IOC in connection with a scandal surrounding the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

An IOC probe concluded that the bidding committee for Salt Lake City had helped subsidize the work of Kim's son, John, with a local company, and that the senior Kim had used his influence to arrange for his pianist daughter to play with the Utah Symphony.

In 2004, Kim was arrested and later convicted on bribery and embezzlement charges in Seoul.

The Supreme Court here upheld the ruling in early 2005.

Kim resigned from the IOC in May 2005 rather than face expulsion.