The Suwon Paldal Police Station in Suwon, Gyeonggi.GYEONGGI NAMBU PROVINCIAL POLICE AGENCY
Police have referred the current and former presidents of Gyeonggi's taekwondo association to prosecutors on suspicion of embezzling about 1.2 billion won ($857,000) in association funds.
Suwon Paldal Police Station said Wednesday it referred the two in June on suspicion of occupational embezzlement. Police suspect them of taking money from both the association and the foundation while serving as executives of the organizations. The current president also chairs the affiliated Gyeongtae Foundation, while the former president now serves as an adviser to the foundation.
Police believe that money was transferred from the association’s account to the foundation between 2019 and last year, with the two receiving some of the funds back as salaries for foundation executives and through other means.
The former president, who simultaneously headed the association and chaired the foundation at the time, allegedly received more than 350 million won across 67 payments from money sent to the foundation as support for an affiliated organization. Police believe the money was used as salary and for other purposes.
The current president, who has chaired the foundation since February of last year, allegedly received more than 52 million won across nine payments between March and November of last year using the same method. Police separately put the amount jointly diverted by the two at more than 810 million won.
A former association executive filed a complaint in July of last year. Police decided not to refer the case in January, but reinvestigated after the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office requested another investigation in March. The two were referred to prosecutors in June.
“During the reinvestigation, we reviewed the transfers between the foundation and the association again and changed our assessment of whether the rules had been violated,” a Suwon Paldal Police Station official said.
A participant competes at the 2026 World Taekwondo Hanmadang at Kukkiwon in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Aug. 2. The photo is not related to the article.YONHAP
The former and current presidents also face allegations that they used association titles they no longer held. The Suwon Yeongtong Police Station referred them to prosecutors on July 30 on suspicion of occupational breach of trust and drawing up and using private documents under titles they no longer held.
The current president left the post of association secretariat chief in 2022 and automatically ceased to be an executive director in 2023, but allegedly continued handling association documents under both titles. Police believe the former president participated.
Investigators also believe the two received and used some association funds through those acts, supporting the occupational breach-of-trust allegation.
BY LEE GYU-RIM [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
