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It appears that Lee Ki-heung (69), the president of the Korea Sports Council who was suspended from his duties due to allegations of corruption, will soon reveal his official position on whether he will run for a third term.
According to a source from the Sports Council on the 21st, Chairman Lee had originally planned to hold a press conference to state his position at a location in Seoul on the 27th, but it was reported that he cancelled the reservation for the press conference location.
The chairman must submit his resignation letter by the 29th, 90 days before the expiration of his term, as the election to select the 42nd chairman of the Sports Association will be held on January 14th of next year.
For Chairman Lee, who has only about 8 days left before the deadline for submitting his resignation, the time to express his position is imminent.
On the 13th, upon returning to Korea via Incheon International Airport after completing his overseas schedule, Chairman Lee expressed his reserved opinion regarding his future plans, saying, "It's difficult to say anything right now. I will discuss it with the members and decide and then let you know."
The chairman is in a difficult situation as he is being asked not to run for re-election by the Sports Council Labor Union (Chairman Kim Seong-ha) and others due to allegations of corruption.
In addition, the Joint Government Service Inspection Team of the Office for Government Policy Coordination requested an investigation into Chairman Lee on charges of unfair hiring of employees, requesting donations (accepting money, etc.), and personal use of donated goods, and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Anti-Corruption Investigation Unit has begun the investigation.
To make matters worse, the chairman has been suspended from his duties by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and is therefore unable to participate in the affairs of the Sports Council at all.
Accordingly, Chairman Lee is showing his will to overcome this head-on.
He is fighting back with the Seoul Administrative Court by filing a lawsuit to cancel the notice of suspension from duty and an application for an injunction to suspend execution.
In addition, he received approval to run for re-election from the Sports Fair Play Committee of the Korea Sports Council (Chairman Kim Byeong-cheol), which was the first gateway to his third term.
Chairman Lee's application for approval of reappointment to the Sports Fair Trade Commission demonstrates his will to run for a third term, and approval of reappointment removes obstacles to running for election.
Furthermore, this chairman, who was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2019, will reach retirement age (70) next year, but he needs to be elected as the chairman of the Sports Council in order to push for an extension of the retirement age.
Because of this, the atmosphere is giving more weight to Chairman Lee's challenge for a third term.
When asked about the chairman's future plans and whether he would run for the presidency of the Sports Association, a close aide predicted that he would run for a third term, saying, "100%."