Education
Graduate of Pyongyang University of Physical Education and Sports (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)
Career
Military service officer as a basketball team player in the Army Sports Club (1956-1966); lecturer in basketball at Pyongyang Specialised School of Sports (1970-1974); official at the DPR Korea Sports Guidance Committee (1974-1980); Vice-Chairman of the Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Committee (1998-) then 1st Vice-Chairman (2002); Deputy to the Supreme People’s Assembly of DPR Korea (2003-)
Sports practised
Basketball
Sports career
National basketball team captain (1956-1967); Pyongyang Sports Club basketball coach (1968-1973)
Sports administration
Member of the DPR Korea Basketball Association (1974-1980) then Standing Member and Vice-President (1980-1986); DPRK National Olympic Committee (NOC) Assistant Secretary General (1980-1985), Secretary General (1985-1998) then Vice-President (1998-); President of DPR Korea Rowing Association (1985-1989); Deputy Chief of the DPRK NOC Delegation to talk (1990-1991) with NOC of the Republic of Korea for the Unified Teams of Table Tennis in World Championships in Japan (1991) and Football Youth Championships in Portugal (1991); Vice-President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) (1991-1992); Advisor to OCA President (1992-); Secretary General of the Organising Committee of the East Asian Games in PyongYang (1995); Representative of NOC to talk with IOC and NOC of the Republic of Korea for Joint March of North and South Korean NOC Teams at Opening Ceremony of the Games of the Olympiad, Sydney 2000. Activities in Taekwondo and Martial Arts: Vice-President (1979-1988) then 1st Vice-President (1989-1993) of the DPR Korea Martial Arts Federation; Founding Member (1980), Member (1984-1988) then Standing Adviser of the DPR Korea Taekwondo Committee (1998-2002); Executive President of the Preparatory Committee for Uniting Taekwondo (1994-2002); Special Advisor to OCA President (1996-); Vice-President (2001-2002) then President of IMGC (2002-2015); President of the International Taekwondo Federation (2002-2015); Chairman of the Martial Art Committee of GAISF (2003-2005); Advisor to the International Boxing Association (AIBA) (2010-); Board member of the International Olympic Truce Foundation (IOTF) (2010-)
Publications
Study on the Olympic Movement - Olympics and Politics
Awards and distinctions
Professorship at the China Renmin University, People's Republic of China (2005); Honorary Doctor’s Degree of Physical Education at the State University for Physical Education and Sports of St. Petersburg, Russian Federation (2007); Doctorate for Sociology and Political Science conferred by the State Commisssion for Conferring Academic Degrees and Titles of DPR Korea (2008); Professorship at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, People's Republic of China (2010-); Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Gold Merit Order (2015)
IOC History
Member of the following Commissions: Sport for All (1997-2015), International Relations (2005-2015); Culture and Olympic Education (2014-2015), Public Affairs and Social Development through Sport (2015-), Culture and Olympic Heritage (2015-), Sport and Active Society (2015-)