Korea’s Olympic Icon - Kim Un-yong’s Resolute Odyssey is a critical biography of the late Dr. Kim Un-yong, the founder president of the World Taekwondo and of the Kukkiwon World Taekwondo Headquarters, and the former Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) president and International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president. This biography is of special significance as a work by David Miller, veteran sports journalist and awards winning author from Great Britain. The book provides profound insights into the exhilarating life of Kim Un-yong, a man whose light shone brightest on the international stage, leaving a huge footprint on sports history not only in South Korea and Asia but across the world. Whilst the focus of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) publication in 2017, A Big Man Who Embraced the World, Kim Un-Yong, recounted primarily Kim's life and career as national sports hero, this latest work delves into his international impact. Miller and Kim interacted over many years and enjoyed a particular closeness; the author has stated that "there would never have been an Olympics in Seoul had it not been for Kim". Kim Un-yong's global influence was individually responsible for major events being hosted by South Korea, most notably the Seoul Olympics of 1988 and the FIFA World Cup of 2002 jointly with Japan. Further historic moments included the opening and closing ceremonies of Sydney's 2000 Olympics with joint marches of the North and South teams of the Peninsular arranged by Kim. It was also in the 2000 Sydney Olympics that Kim achieved Taekwondo’s inclusion as an Olympic sport for the first time: a hitherto little known domestic leisure sport. As IOC President Samaranch's privately intended successor, Kim's mounting fame and senior appointments, as IOC vice-president and as president of the General Assembly of International Sports Federations (GAISF), attracted envy, both within sport and domestically within politics. Lamentable political revenge at home in the aftermath of Pyeongchang’s unsuccessful first of three Winter Olympic bids in 2003, resulting in a contrived prison sentence challenged by the United Nations Human Rights Commission, but symbiotically mirrored by the IOC Ethics Commission, found Kim toppled from authority, forced to resign his IOC vice-presidency just months after being elected by a substantial majority. Kim would go on to resume his outside activities and sharing his sports administration acumen through a 2006 advisory role on the organising committee for the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon and a 2010 advisory role on the organising committee for the 2015 Universiade in Gwangju and taking on positions as an advisor to the KSOC and honorary chairman of the Korea Taekwondo Association. He would also share his ideas through lectures and talks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various universities, whilst contributing columns to online and printed media. In 2016 he founded the Kimunyong Sport Committee (KUYSC) and launched the Kimunyong Cup International Open Taekwondo Championships (G1) shortly before his unexpected passing in October 2017. Detailing the passionate life story of Kim Un-yong as someone who represented South Korea’s face in the world of global sports - taking on multiple roles over history as a soldier, diplomat, sports administrator, and politician - this critical biography is rich in messages of courage and hope that are worthy of sharing with younger readers. It also offers a practical guide to thinking people of all generations in fields beyond sports administration and marketing, including diplomacy and international business. The book consists of eight chapters: 1. Emergent Phenomenon, 2. Seoul Spectacular, 3. Asian Leadership, 4. Salt Lake Subterfuge, 5. Presidential Turmoil, 6. Pyeongchang Reversal, 7. Symbiotic Convergence, and 8. Squandered Icon. It also includes a foreword and a preface by the IOC Finance Commission chairman, Ng Ser Miang and Honorary IOC member, Vitali Smirnov, respectively. Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FOREWORD PREFACE | CHAPTER 1 EMERGENT PHENOMENON | CHAPTER 2 SEOUL SPECTACULAR | CHAPTER 3 ASIAN LEADERSHIP | CHAPTER 4 SALT LAKE SUBTERFUGE | CHAPTER 5 PRESIDENTIAL TURMOIL | CHAPTER 6 PYEONGCHANG REVERSAL | CHAPTER 7 SYMBIOTIC CONVERGENCE | CHAPTER 8 SQUANDERED ICON POSTSCRIPT BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

The Greatest Olympics It calls 1988 Seoul Olympics as the greatest Olympics. The author, the Former IOC Vice President Kim Un-yong in his book, calls the 24th Seoul Olympics as the greatest festival of mankind. He says Seoul Olympics put the Olympic Games on a right track, contributing to the development and democratization of Korea. He further says the Seoul Games will be recorded in history as the Games which gave desire and hope to Eastern European countries.

A December Stephen Curry Book Club Pick One of ESPN’s 25 Can’t Miss Books of 2019 “A feel-good story.”—New York Times Book Review “This isn’t simply a sports book. Rather, it’s a book about inspiring and courageous women who just happened to be hockey players.”—Korea Times The inspiring, unlikely story of the American, Canadian, South Korean and even North Korean women who joined together to form Korea’s first Olympic ice hockey team. Two weeks before the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics, South Korea’s women’s hockey team was forced into a predicament that no president, ambassador or general had been able to resolve in the sixty-five years since the end of the Korean War. Against all odds, the group of young women were able to bring North and South Korea closer than ever before. The team was built for this moment. They had been brought together from across the globe and from a wide variety of backgrounds—concert pianist, actress, high school student, convenience store worker—to make history. Now the special kinship they had developed would guide them through the biggest challenge of their careers. Suddenly thrust into an international spotlight, they showed the powerful meaning of what a unified Korea could resemble. In A Team of Their Own, Seth Berkman goes behind the scenes to tell the story of these young women as they became a team amid immense political pressure and personal turmoil, and ultimately gained worldwide acceptance on a journey that encapsulates the truest meanings of sport and family.

Korea has become a powerful force in global sport, with South Korea finishing fifth in the medals table at London 2012 and hosting the Winter Olympics in 2018. This book brings together scholars from disciplines including sport history, sociology, journalism, economics, sport development, and sport management to explore the significance of sport in contemporary Korea. Presenting a variety of international perspectives, it plots the dynamic evolution of sport in Korea and envisions the possibilities for its future. Each chapter focuses on a key topic of current relevance, such as sport in the context of shifting relations between North and South Korea, or the role of sport in the expression of Korean nationalism. Arguing that individuals, institutions, businesses, and governments have actively leveraged or exploited sport to influence developments in various social, economic, cultural, and political arenas, this book sheds new light on the importance of sport as a catalyst for change in Korea. This is indispensable reading for any student or scholar with an interest in sport, history, and culture in Korea.

Seoul Olympics and Korean Culture