Kim, on the Run with Illegally Secured US Permanent Residentship

Kim Jeong-hun, currently wanted in the US on charges related to the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, was arrested in Bulgaria on May 18. Kim Jeon-hun, also known as John Kim, is the son of Kim Un-yong, a South Korean member of the International Olympics Committee (IOC).

The “Salt Lake Scandal” led ten IOC members to resign after it was revealed that they bribed IOC members in order to win the bid for bringing the Winter Olympics to the city. Salt Lake City bidding committee director, Tom Welch, and his deputy, Dave Johnson were prosecuted in early 1990 for paying 1 million dollars to IOC members who were in charge of selecting the host city in cash, scholarships, free medical care and job recommendations. Kim Un-yong, a South Korean IOC member, has been reprimanded by an IOC ethics panel after his son was charged for his involvement in the scandal.

According to an earlier investigation, David Simmons, former chairman of Keystone Communications, with an altered employment contract, helped Kim gain permanent residency in the US. His salary was found to have come from the bidding committee.

After a while, Kim was accused of lying to FBI investigators and securing permanent residence through illegal means. Kim, who was living in Long Island, New York, fled to South Korea before his September 1999 indictment and never returned.

Kim Un-yong claimed that he did not know his son was employed by the committee`s lobby and that his son had actually been working for the company.