YONHAP NEWS

PyeongChang bidding committee asks for pardon of suspended IOC member

SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Yonhap) -- The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics Bidding Committee said Thursday that it has asked the South Korean government to grant a pardon to former Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee, a suspended member of the International Olympic Organization (IOC), to help boost its bidding campaign.

   The 67-year-old Lee voluntarily gave up his rights and duties as an IOC member following his conviction in 2008 for his involvement in a tax evasion scandal.

   Lee's suspended status at the IOC has been considered a drag on the bidding efforts by PyeongChang, which jumped into the race to host the Winter Olympics in 2018.

   The mountain resort city, located some 180km east of Seoul, has already lost to Canada's Vancouver and Russia's Sochi in its two previous attempts.

   "The committee has requested that the government grant a special pardon to Lee Kun-hee," said Cho Yang-ho, co-chairman of the PyeongChang bidding committee, at a press conference in downtown Seoul.

   "In order for PyeongChang to succeed, all the people, including the president, should extend their support. In particular, we need as many IOC members as possible, as IOC members alone can freely meet with other IOC members," said Cho, concurrently chairman of the Hanjin Group.

   Cho said that PyeongChang's rival cities, Germany's Munich and France's Annecy, have two to three IOC members who can freely meet other IOC members to promote their cities without violating IOC rules.

   Excluding Lee, South Korea has just one IOC member -- Moon Dae-sung, an Olympic taekwondo gold medalist.

   If Lee is reinstated, he is expected to willingly return to the IOC, Cho added.

   South Korea's former IOC member Park Yong-sung, chairman of the Korean Olympic Committee, made his comeback to the international sports stage after he received an amnesty in 2007.

   "We hope for Lee's reinstatement around February next year when a general meeting of the IOC will take place in Vancouver. We need his connections and influence in the sports arena at the last general meeting before the IOC decides the 2018 host city in 2011," said Cho.

   The IOC is planning to select the host city of the 2018 global showpiece at its general meeting in 2011 in Durban, South Africa.

   brk@yna.co.kr
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