South Korea accuses IOC envoy of sabotaging 2010 Oly bid

A controversial International Olympic Committee member from South Korea who was elected to a top post despite his connection to the Salt Lake bid scandal now has to answer to his government.

New IOC Vice President Un Yong Kim is under investigation by South Korea's National Assembly. Hearings began Wednesday on whether he is responsible for the South Korean city of Pyeongchang's failed bid to hold the 2010 Winter Games.

"You do not know what kind of place the IOC is," Kim, a member of the National Assembly, said at Wednesday's hearing, according to the JoongAng Daily newspaper. "You can be mistaken because you don't understand the workings of the IOC."

The chairman of the special panel holding the hearings, Hak Won Kim, said Kim might face "disgraceful dismissal" from the assembly if he is found to have sabotaged the bid out of self-interest, the Korea Times reported.

But Marc Hodler, the IOC member from Switzerland who helped uncover the Salt Lake scandal, said he did not believe Kim should be blamed for Pyeongchang's loss.

"That's not his mistake," Hodler said in a telephone interview from his home in Berne.

"I wouldn't say he's responsible, but I don't know everything," he said. "I do know there were some problems between him and the bidding committee."

Hodler said he is meeting Friday with South Korea's ambassador to Switzerland, at the ambassador's request.

Kim was elected to one of the four vice-president posts last week, just two days after IOC members gave those Games to Vancouver, Canada, by a vote of 56-53. Kim's critics say his candidacy was at the expense of South Korea's Olympic bid.

Also being raised at the hearings are recent revelations that Kim tried to influence the South Korean government to intervene on behalf of his son, who faces charges in connection with the bid scandal.

Kim's son, John, is being held in a Bulgarian jail awaiting extradition to the United States on charges he lied to federal investigators and used a fraudulently obtained green card to enter this country. Prosecutors say he had a "sham job" paid for by the Salt Lake Bid Committee.

They are expected to call him as a witness against bid leaders Tom Welch and Dave Johnson. The pair are set to go to trial in October on conspiracy, fraud and racketeering charges related to the $1 million in cash and gifts given to IOC members.

The IOC gave Kim a "most serious warning" in 1999 for his role in the bid scandal. His election has raised questions about the IOC's commitment to reforms passed in the wake of allegations that members' votes were for sale to bid cities.

Johnson's attorney, Max Wheeler, said Kim's troubles won't have any impact on the case.

"The issue is not what the IOC is today," Wheeler said. "We have ample evidence to show what was going on with the IOC at the time with other bid cities. Whether they have or have not reformed now is basically a non-issue for us."

---

E-mail: lisa@desnews.com