Lee Ki-heung, chairman of the Korea Sports and Olympic Committee, said on the 9th that the controversy over the travel expenses of past Badminton Association executives, which has been re-examined in conjunction with criticism of Ahn Se-young, a gold medalist in women’s badminton at the “2024 Paris Olympics,” is in accordance with related regulations.
“Our players spend the national budget,” Chairman Lee said on CBS radio’s “Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show” in the morning. “If we have a lot of budget, it would be nice to go on a business trip, but it’s difficult if we look at it later, and executives are burdened with their own expenses.” He added that the standard for boarding an aircraft for executives such as the chairman is in accordance with the regulations, adding that breaking them is a problem.
Chairman Lee’s remarks came in the process of responding, saying, “It was misinformed” to the host’s remarks that “the players went on the economy and the executives went on the business.”
In July 2018, the budget bill prepared by the Badminton Association to participate in the World Championships in China read “economy seats for coaches and players, and business seats for all executives,” drawing keen attention to recent reports. The Badminton association is a member organization of the Korea Sports Association along with the Korea Football Association.
Chairman Lee also explained on the radio that he could upgrade seats for fellow passengers at the discretion of executives, saying, “I’ll pay for it, so get in the business.”
The promotion of aircraft seats at individual discretion is shown in the Travel Expenses Regulation, which refers to the payment of travel expenses for executives and employees of the Korea Sports Council. The “Foreign Travel Expenses Fixed Table” of the regulation, which was revised in March last year, stipulates that the chairman’s position will be paid a fixed amount of business seats in the air freight category, and executives such as the secretary-general and the head of the athletes’ village, and the chairmen and vice-chairmen of various committees will be paid a fixed amount of business seats.
In addition, the regulation said, “When executives can secure tickets or upgrade their aircraft seat ratings with air mileage accumulated for official travel, they can use air mileage accumulated for official travel first, as stipulated in separate guidelines on how to manage and utilize air mileage.” He added, “If you use air mileage, you will pay all or part of your airfare by reducing it.”
This regulation shall apply mutatis mutandis to the “Regulations on Travel Expenses of Public Officials” registered in the National Legal Information Center, not the standards of the Korean Sports Council itself.
Chairman Lee said, “I think it’s a matter of considering the regulations a little bit,” adding, “In the case of Chairman Chung Eui-sun of the archery, even if the regulations are supposed to drive the economy, there are cases such as ‘take all business’ and ‘I’ll give you personal money for the money.”
BY: 메이저사이트