Everyone is an enemy if they don’t get their way.
The recent conflict between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Olympic Committee has led to criticism of KOC President Lee Ki-heung’s assertive behavior.
“We (KASF) do not participate in the National Sports Policy Committee,” he said in a recent media interview.
The NSC is a joint government-private body that was launched last month to deliberate and decide on major sports policies.
It is co-chaired by the prime minister and includes ministers (or their deputies) from 15 ministries and the private sector.
President Lee Ki-heung is one of the nine ex officio members.
However, Lee did not attend the first meeting, saying that the civilian members recommended by the KOC were not appointed.
Rather, after the first meeting, he issued a statement in the name of the Korean Sports Federation and others saying that the composition of the civilian members was wrong.
In the statement, they demanded an apology from the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, but they were told that it was ‘over the top’ because they were denying a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister.
Now, they have burned their bridges, saying they will not participate in the National Sports Policy Committee at all.
Lee’s willingness to confront state power is due to the learning effect.
Lee also caused a stir last year when he criticized the launch of the organizing committee for the World University Games in Chungcheong Province, saying that his recommended candidate was excluded.
The process led to conflicts with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the four provinces, which emphasized procedure, and eventually led to the resignation of the publicly selected secretary general.
In a statement released last month, Lee accused the ministry of “irresponsible behavior in reversing the agreement between the KOC and the host city on the composition of the organizing committee for the 2027 World University Games in the Chungcheong region, which led to a crisis in the return of the hosting rights.”
A complete misrepresentation of the facts.
This is a complete distortion of the facts.
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