South Korean prosecutors want International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice president Kim Un-yong to be given a seven-year prison sentence because of his embezzlement, bribery and illegal use of foreign currency.
The prosecutor told the Seoul District Court “the accused abused sports organizations as if they were his private corporations and was standing over them like a demi-god. The accused took advantage of his status to obtain illegitimate material gains, stashed away 7.6 billion won ($604 million) in cash in his house and banks”.
A verdict will be announced June 3 and if he is convicted Kim will be sentenced immediately.
Prosecutors also asked the court to order Kim to pay 788 million won ($60,500) in part resolution of the funds.
Kim apologized to the court for “disappointing the people” but asked for leniency.
He said, “I admit that in the course of my headlong exertion toward the 1988 Seoul Olympics and inter-Korean sports exchanged, I failed to do it right in accounting books”. But added that he hoped the court would hand down a lenient and fair judgement because he said what he did so far was “not for my own gain but for the country”.
