Korea Sports and Olympic Committee President Yoo Seung-min speaks at the launch ceremony of the K-Football Innovation Committee held at Olympic Parktel in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Monday. [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]
Korea Sports and Olympic Committee President Yoo Seung-min speaks at the launch ceremony of the K-Football Innovation Committee held at Olympic Parktel in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Monday. [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

Police have cleared Korea Sports and Olympic Committee President Yoo Seung-min of breach-of-trust allegations stemming from his time as head of the Korea Table Tennis Association.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's financial crimes unit announced Tuesday that it had dropped charges against Yoo, KTTA village chief Kim Taek-su — a former KTTA vice president — and former KTTA secretary-general Jeong Hae-cheon. The three had been referred to police on allegations of breach of trust and obstruction of business, but investigators found insufficient grounds to proceed.

The three were reported to police in July last year by civic groups including Sports Citizen Solidarity. During Yoo's tenure, the KTTA operated a system that paid incentives to those who brought in sponsorship money. The complainants alleged that Yoo and the association's leadership exploited vague regulations to authorize incentive payments, causing financial harm to the association.

Investigators concluded that the breach-of-trust charge could not be sustained because Yoo and the other KTTA executives at the time lacked the authority to decide on incentive payments tied to sponsorship funds.

Yoo also faced allegations that he had improperly influenced the selection of a specific athlete for the national team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Police, however, found that Yoo and the KTTA leadership had not overstepped their authority during the selection process.

Yoo was elected KTTA president in a by-election in May 2019 and served one additional term, leading the association until September 2024. He was elected Korea Sports and Olympic Committee president early last year and recently became co-chair of the K-Football Innovation Committee, a body launched to reform the Korea Football Association.


kido@heraldcorp.com