Corrupt payments were also allegedly made to secure the martial art’s place as an Olympic event.
became an Olympic sport after officials were bribed with cash and cars. Ho Kim, a 66-year-old South Korean, claims to have carried out corrupt payments while working as the head of marketing and PR at the World Taekwondo Federation ahead of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, when the martial art was included as an event at the games for the first time.
Ho Kim says that, in the lead up to the 1994 congress, he and others were instructed by Dr Kim Un-yong, the founding president of the World Taekwondo Federation, to do whatever it took to get the IOC’s backing for the Korean martial art. Ho Kim claims to have arranged for two Daewoo cars to be sent to one IOC member from Mali, while other voting officials were given cash payments in brown envelopes.