SEOUL– A veteran South Korean sports administrator Kim Jae-youl was elected as the new president of the International Skating Union (ISU) on Friday, becoming the first non-European leader of the world skating governing body.
Kim won the election held during the 58th Ordinary ISU Congress in Phuket, Thailand, on Friday. According to the Korea Skating Union (KSU), Kim garnered 77 out of 119 votes, beating out three candidates: Patricia St. Peter of the United States, Susanna Rahkamo of Finland and Slobodan Delic of Serbia.
Kim is the first ISU head to come from outside Europe since the organization’s foundation in 1892. Kim will succeed Jan Dijkema of the Netherlands, and his term will run through 2026.
Kim, 53, had been one of 10 members of the ISU Council, its executive body, since 2016. He recently served on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Previously, Kim was the KSU’s president from 2011 to 2016; vice president of international affairs for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics; vice chairman of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee; and head of the South Korean delegation to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Kim is the son-in-law of the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee.
“Sports have the power to transcend borders and ethnicities to bring the world together as one,” Kim said, in a statement released by the KSU. “Using Korea’s development into an economic, cultural and sports power as an example, I will try to deliver a message of hope, encouragement and success to countries that have been marginalized in winter sports. I will also try to contribute to the development of international sports as a whole.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency