Minister Choi Hwi-young Congratulates Kim Jaeyeol on ISU Re-election: "Elevating South Korea's Sports Status"

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young sent a congratulatory message to Kim Jaeyeol, member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board, on his successful re-election as President of the International Skating Union (ISU). Minister Choi praised President Kim for leading reforms in global skating and elevating the status of South Korea in sports diplomacy.

On June 13, Minister Choi released the congratulatory message via social media, stating, "I sincerely congratulate President Kim Jaeyeol on his re-election as ISU President," and called it "a remarkable achievement that has raised the stature of South Korean sports diplomacy."

He added, "Since being elected as the first non-European ISU President in 2022, President Kim has driven a sweeping transformation in global skating through bold innovation in response to changes in the sports environment." The Minister further noted, "By improving the short track judging system, he has enhanced fairness, a core value in sports, and by significantly increasing prize money, he has practiced athlete-centered governance." He also said, "President Kim has led the reform of the ISU through expanding the sport’s base and modernizing the organization."

Kim Jaeyeol, President of ISU. Photo by Yonhap News

President Kim ran unopposed in the 60th ISU General Assembly presidential election held in Tenerife, Spain the previous day and was successfully re-elected. The new term will last for four years, until 2030.

With this re-election, President Kim will continue to serve as both an IOC member and an IOC Executive Board member, as these positions are granted based on holding the presidency of an International Federation (IF).

Additionally, President Kim became the third Korean to serve consecutive terms as the head of an International Federation, following the late Kim Un-yong, former president of World Taekwondo (WT), and Cho Jung-won, the current WT president.

President Kim began his international sports administration career when he became president of the Korea Skating Union in 2011 while serving as CEO of Cheil Industries. He later served as Vice Chair of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, Vice President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, a member of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, and as an ISU executive board member.

In 2022, he was elected as the first-ever non-European ISU President, leading organizational reform and marketing innovation. He is especially credited with improving the short track judging system to strengthen fairness.

At last year’s Figure Skating World Championships in Boston, he spearheaded fan-friendly changes, such as introducing LED rink boards, a digital kiss-and-cry zone, and enhanced TV broadcast graphics. These innovations carried over to this year's World Championships in Prague, which attracted approximately 127,000 spectators.

During the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, ISU's social media channels recorded 408 million video views, which is about 37 times more than during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

President Kim also launched the Short Track World Tour to help the sport realize its growth potential and has worked to broaden the skating base by bringing ISU competitions to new regions such as Thailand, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Georgia.

He has also actively pursued athlete-centered policies. As part of this, from the 2026-2027 season, athlete prize money will be more than doubled, from the current 5.4 million dollars to 11 million dollars.

Furthermore, President Kim is advancing the reform blueprint "ISU Vision 2030," which is built on five pillars: growth, opportunity, innovation, athlete protection, and unity. In 2024, he also succeeded in passing amendments to modernize the ISU constitution and decision-making structure for the first time in the union's history.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.