New Book: Korea's Olympic Icon — Kim Un-Yong's Resolute Odyssey

This biography is of special significance as a work by David Miller, a veteran sports journalist from Great Britain. Miller has spent six decades travelling to sports events around globe. Miller has covered 24 Olympic Games, attending 45 annual sessions of the International Olympic Committee, 14 World Cup football finals and more than 30 sports in 120 countries.

This book provides profound insights into the exhilarating life of Kim Un-Yong, a man whose light shone brightest on the international stage. The biography follows a thoroughly researched and considered perspective of Kim's resilient life and career despite challenges and adversities.

Kim's global influence was individually responsible for major events being hosted by South Korea, most notably the Seoul Olympics of 1988 and the FIFA World Cup of 2002 jointly with Japan.

Further historic moments included the opening and closing ceremonies of Sydney's 2000 Olympics with joint marches of the South and North teams of the Korean Peninsula arranged by Kim.

It was also in the 2000 Sydney Olympics that Kim achieved Taekwondo's inclusion as an Olympic sports for the first time.

Kim Un-Yong's mounting fame and senior appointments, as IOC vice president and as president of the General Assembly of International Sports Federations, attracted envy, both within sports and domestically within politics.