Former Samsung chairman attends IOC meeting

By Kim Nam-hee
VANCOUVER, Feb. 10 (Yonhap) -- Former Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, who was
recently reinstated as a member of the International Olympic Committee, attended
an IOC general assembly in Vancouver on Wednesday.
It was his first time to participate in the IOC general assembly since he last
attended the meeting in July 2007 in Guatemala City, where the venue for the 2014
Winter Games was chosen.
Lee voluntarily gave up his rights and duties as an IOC member in 2008 following
his conviction for tax evasion and illegal bond transactions in a South Korean
court.
"This is just a beginning and it (participation in IOC meeting) doesn't carry
much meaning," Lee told reporters on the first day of the assembly.
His reinstatement as an IOC member came after the South Korean government
pardoned him in December, enabling him to play a role in helping the South Korean
county of PyeongChang bid for the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.
PyeongChang, an alpine resort county about 180 kilometers east of Seoul, is
bidding for the right to host the Winter Games for the third consecutive time,
after it lost to Canada's Vancouver and Russia's Sochi in its two previous
attempts.
Competing against PyeongChang for the 2018 Games are the French city of Annecy
and the German city of Munich.
Lee is scheduled to visit the Olympic village to encourage South Korean athletes
on Thursday.
He will also attend the opening ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter
Games to be held in BC Place Stadium Friday morning.
Lee will stay in Vancouver during the Olympics and try to help his country's
efforts to host the 2018 Winter Games.
kimnh@yna.co.kr
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