Yoo Seung Min Blocks Lee Ki-heung for 3rd Term and Elects President of Korea Sports Council

■ Proceedings: Judas One Anchor
■ Telephone connection: Lee Yoo Seung Min, the 42nd president-elect of the Korea Sports Council,

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[Anchor]
Let's talk to the president-elect of Yoo Seung Min by phone. Is the president-elect here?

[Yoo Seung Min]
Hello, this is Yoo Seung Min.

[Anchor]
First of all, congratulations on being elected today. How was it?

[Yoo Seung Min]
I was a bit calm. In fact, the athletes showed their aspirations, and I think that since the future is more important, I think we should work hard to respond to those aspirations.

[Anchor]
In fact, current chairman Lee Ki-heung was expected to dominate, and the existing support was not easy. What do you see as the power that was able to block Chairman Lee's third term?

[Yoo Seung Min]
I think the sincerity was conveyed a little more. Second, as I just said, I accept that the athletes were very enthusiastic about changing now and changing according to the trend of the times. So I'm more responsible than happy to be elected now. There is also a burden to lead well in the future, so I am already thinking a lot about how to plan and lead the Korean Sports Council well in the future.

[Anchor]
As you said, he said that he feels more responsible or burdened than happy, and in his previous remarks, he said that the sports world has many pending issues. What are you specifically talking about?

[Yoo Seung Min]
First of all, I think we need to strengthen the relationship with the government, which is currently in trouble. I think we need to do things that can raise the pride and status of athletes who have fallen a lot in various ways once again. Then, the issues that are piled up in the sports field. There are many things to be done evenly on local sports, school sports, and the treatment of leaders, and the development of sports for all, especially in Harbin a few days later. That's why some athletes are sweating hard at the Winter Universiade, so I think the sports field is going on without a break. I think we need to keep up with that.

[Anchor]
Earlier, you pointed out the problem that the relationship with the government and the status of athletes should be raised, so what part do you plan to fix?

[Yoo Seung Min]
First of all, I think we should make a lot of effort to make the sports association itself fair and transparent. I think we need to let them know what we did well. Despite the good atmosphere after the Paris Olympics, a lot of bad issues have emerged, and athletes are a little hurt by those areas. The part that the athlete is good at is highlighted well according to the part that he is good at. Also, if there is anything that needs to be improved, I think we should boldly show an active attitude that we can lead and improve ourselves.

[Anchor]
In fact, in the case of Chairman Lee Ki-heung, wasn't there a conflict with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism? I wonder how Yoo plans to establish this in the future.

[Yoo Seung Min]
The truth is, so far, I have never lost an enemy to any institution or anyone. So, if there is anything to develop physical education by opening all the doors to those areas in a flexible way, I think I should approach them first and make many requests, and for the development of physical education, I should put everything down myself. So, I would like to focus on that and communicate like this in the future.

[Anchor]
As our president-elect is elected this time, his term is four years. It's due in February, 2029. In fact, many international competitions are held during the term, and there are still homework to be solved as you said, so which one do you think will be the most important during your term?

[Yoo Seung Min]
First of all, the local sports association needs to make structural changes, but there are only about two years left. Because the term cycle is different from ours, so that part. Second, school physical education is very difficult at the same time. Due to many restrictions, student athletes and leaders cannot exercise as much as they want, and especially hope for the future cannot be seen. I think it is urgent that such areas can be changed more actively and more prosperously through close organic cooperation with the government, the Ministry of Education, the Office of Education, and local governments.

[Anchor]
Our president-elect has worked as a gold medalist, president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, IOC Athletes' Commissioner, and chairman of the Pyeongchang Memorial Foundation. This time, he is also the chairman of the Korean Sports Council. These were important seats. Do you have a final dream?

[Yoo Seung Min]
I don't have a dream right now. Since I retired, I have always aimed to produce maximum results in a given reality and a given situation, rather than a dream. The same goes for the Korea Sports Association, which is a very big event for me, so I think I have to solve it one by one to meet the current issues and expectations of athletes without having time to think about my future dreams. I want to focus on those areas because the given work is too big to look far into the future and there are many things to do in the future.

[Anchor]
I see. I think many people are hoping for a big change in the sports association. We hope you will lead us well in the future in response to expectations.

[Yoo Seung Min]
Thank you.

[Anchor]
So far, I've been with the president-elect of Yoo Seung Min. Thank you for calling me today.