05/20/05 — IOC vice president resigns

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IOC vice president resigns

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on May 20, 2005 1:46 PM

LONDON -- Jailed IOC vice president Kim Un-yong resigned from the Olympic body Friday rather than face an expulsion vote in July, an Olympic source told The Associated Press.

The 74-year-old Kim, currently serving a two-year prison term on embezzlement and bribery charges in South Korea, has been suspended from the International Olympic Committee for more than a year.

Kim, a member of the IOC since 1986, had been one of the most powerful figures in the Olympic movement.

An official IOC announcement of his resignation was expected later Friday.

The IOC executive board recommended in February that Kim be expelled because he "seriously tarnished the reputation of the Olympic movement."

The IOC assembly had been scheduled to vote on his ouster at its session in Singapore in July. Kim was the highest-ranking IOC delegate facing expulsion, and South Korean officials have been pressing for him to resign.