“Kye Soon Hee Will Win Her Third Straight World Championship”

Secretary of the North Korean Judo Association Park Hak Yong said, “I feel proud to be Korean.” Secretary Park said that he was very happy for the success of President Park Yong-sung’s third term as the President of the International Judo Federation (IJF). With eight North Korean national judo competitors, Secretary Park will participate in the World Judo Championships to be held in Cairo, Egypt starting September 8.

Secretary Park, a key figure of North Korean judo, is a former judo gold medalist in the 1985 Universiade Games and has close relations with Korean judo circles by joining spates of international matches since when he was a contestant.

Park is close to President Kim Jung-haeng and Vice President Choi Jong-sam of the Korea Judo Association (KJA), and a referee of the World Championship this year, secretary general of the Judo Union of Asia (JUA), Moon Won-bae.

Park said, “We hope that Kye Soon Hee, a North Korean heroine, will win a gold medal in the championship, as she recovered from her hand injury.”

Kye Soon Hee (27) is a North Korean star judo champion who won the gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games by defeating world Japanese star, Tani Rokyo. Kye Soon Hee won her two championships in the 2001 World Judo Championships in Munich and in the 2003 Osaka World Judo Championships. Though Kye has since won the silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, she is firmly determined to win her third straight World Championship.

Kye Soon Hee will play at 57 kilograms in the championship this time, as she did in the Athens Olympic Games. She has gradually increased her weight since she played at 48 kilograms in the Atlanta Olympic Games and at 52 kilograms in the Osaka World Championships.

Secretary Park broadly smiled, saying, “I hope Kye Soon Hee will marry a good man after winning a gold medal in the championship this time.”

Park suggested that Korea should closely observe Ahn Geum Ae for the championship, who won the gold meal for the women’s 52-kilogram class in the 2005 Asia Judo Championship in May.

Jae-Yun Jung jaeyuna@donga.com