Associated Press (AP) reports that a parliamentary committee has referred Kim Un-yong, vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), to the ethics committee for lobbying against Pyeongchang’s bid for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
Rep. Kim Han-won, chairman of the National Assembly special committee investigating South Korea’s failed bid, said since there was no answer from Kim to the charges by the committee’s deadline, “and no measures were taken, there was no choice but to refer the case to the ethics committee after consultations with Assembly speaker Park Kwan-yong”.
There was no immediate reaction from the Ethics Committee on whether it will accept the parliamentary committee’s recommendation.
The ethics committee has the power to demand an apology from Kim or call on the National Assembly’s plenary session to vote to oust him from his legislative seat, reports AP.
Kim Myung-soon, an aide at the committee chairman’s office, explained that the ethics committee may, after its meeting, decide to strike Kim off parliament’s roll.
The aide said, “if the case is brought to the assembly’s plenary session, a bill urging Kim’s resignation that carries a law-binding effect could be passed with a two-thirds vote of registered lawmakers”.
