Protesting Too Much
A Good Example of Protesting Too Much??
In this story, former international mover, shaker, and sports powerhouse, Kim Un-yong said:
“Rumours and allegations about me are not true…. I am prepared to turn myself into the prosecution for questioning anytime and to tell the truth,”
According to the Korea Times, IOC Vice president Kim Un-yong is the subject of an arrest warrant. According to prosecutors, Kim took over USD 440,000 from two business men in exchange for them getting seats on the Korea Olympic Committee. He is also accused of embezzling huge amounts of money from the World Taekwondo Federation and the Korea Taekwondo Association. The prosecution is also investigating Kim for violations of the foreign currency law. Prosecutors are also wondering where Kim got the KRW 6,500,000,000 in cash and bonds, including USD 1,500,000 in foreign currency that was discovered during a raid on his house.
In response, Kim did what any self-respecting, high-profile criminal suspect in Korea would do; he fainted, claimed high blood pressure, and checked himself into an intensive care unit. All of this comes on the heels of Kim’s resigning from the taekwondo organizations and from his parliamentary seat. Of course, Kim argues that he did not do anything wrong. Of course he would never take bribes. He is cut from only the finest of moral cloth.
History Lesson (Allegedly)
According to this Deseret News article from August 3, 1999.
The Justice Department said the [guilty] plea from David E. Simmons stems from a scheme in which he helped Jung-hoon Kim, son of International Olympic Committee member Un Yong Kim, obtain lawful permanent resident status by offering the son a fraudulent job at his company.
The father had a vote on which city would get the 2002 Winter Games. . . . Documents show the younger Kim was working for Simmons when he was not.
The amounts paid to Jung-hoon Kim, also known as John Kim, “were not genuine salary payments but instead were payments made under a sham employment arrangement designed to enable (the younger Kim) to attain lawful permanent resident status for the purpose of influencing his father’s vote in favor of awarding the Olympic Winter
In court documents, Simmons admitted entering into a series of sham contracts and using phony invoices to conceal the fact that the son’s salary was actually being paid by the Salt Lake Olympic Bid Committee.
Simmons said on his own behalf:
“I sincerely regret and accept responsibility for my participation in acts taken at the request of (former bid committee president Tom) Welch and Kim, for which I have agreed to plead guilty to a federal misdemeanor,” he said. “At no time did Keystone (his company) or I benefit from our involvement with Welch, Kim or the bid committee.”
What else has Kim Un-yong been in trouble for? Many things, according to this article from the Salt Lake Tribune:
Kim’s father, then IOC Vice President Un Yong Kim, received a “most serious of warnings” from the IOC for allowing the bid committee to arrange employment for his son, a Utah Symphony concert performance for his daughter and a college scholarship for a Russian woman whose father’s company produced recordings of the Kim daughter’s piano pieces.
Then again, Kim would have us believe that he single-handedly saved the 2002 Winter Games:
In his acceptance speech, Kim said, “As you have seen in Salt Lake City when it was in trouble, I saved the Olympic Games. So you can see I am always at your service.”
Speaking to reporters, Kim said he was referring to his work behind the scenes when South Korea and Russia threatened to boycott the closing ceremony.
Is Kim a corrupt, bribe-taking, official, or is he the innocent victim of a vicious and unfounded witch hunt by political opponents? Personally, I believe he is innocent because Koreans are a law-abiding people.