The president of the Korea Tennis Association, Chung Hee-gyun, who was suspected of embezzlement, has resigned.
The KTA announced that Chung submitted his resignation at the KTA’s fifth board meeting for 2023, which was held on the afternoon of June 6 in the conference room of the tennis stadium at Songpa Olympic Park in Seoul.
In his resignation, Chung said, “The association is in a state of wind turbulence,” and added, “I have decided that my resignation is the first step in order for the association to be normalized.”
The KTA has been unable to repay billions of won in debt to MediaWill, a company run by former chairman Joo Won-hong’s brother, in connection with a project to remodel a tennis court at the military academy, and all bank accounts in its name have been seized, effectively paralyzing its administration.
In addition, there have been allegations that Chung has engaged in embezzlement through the Korea Junior Tennis Development Foundation, which he created when he took office, by accepting sponsorship money from various contracts signed in the name of the tennis association and part of the advertising revenue from international tournaments and using it as personal money.
As the controversy grew, Chung announced shortly after the board meeting on March 30 that he would resign once the issues were resolved, including the payment of employees’ salaries and the Sports Ethics Center’s investigation into his alleged embezzlement.
However, there were many in the tennis community who felt that a quick transition to an acting president would be a better option for the association to get back on track than allowing Chung, who had already lost his leadership, to remain in office.
With Chung’s resignation, vice-president Yeh Jong-seok will take over as acting president, according to the bylaws, which state that the vice-presidents will assume the role of president in order of seniority.
“I will do my best to solve the problem. I will start working from tomorrow to understand the situation, find a solution, and convene the next board meeting as soon as possible.”
The organization will prepare to elect a new president within 60 days if the remaining term of the deposed president is more than one year. Chung’s term was set to run until 2025. 토토