Unification Minister Chung Dong-young attends a National Assembly committee meeting in Seoul. Photo by Asia Today
April 1 (Asia Today) — Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Wednesday expressed condolences over the death of former North Korean International Olympic Committee member Chang Ung, praising his role in broadening inter-Korean exchanges through sports.
In a social media post, Chung said he honored Chang’s “noble dedication” to harmony and peace on the Korean Peninsula and prayed for his soul. He also recalled meeting Chang in Seoul in April 2007, when Chang visited as head of the International Taekwon-Do Federation, and said they had a meaningful discussion on inter-Korean taekwondo exchanges and cooperation.
Chung said Chang helped advance peace and coexistence through sports, citing the unified Korean team at the 1991 world table tennis championships in Chiba, Japan, as well as the joint marches by North and South Korean athletes at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games.
The IOC said Wednesday it had learned “with extreme sadness” that Chang died on Sunday at age 87 and that the Olympic flag would fly at half-staff for three days at Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, in his honor. AP, citing the IOC, reported that North Korean state media had not yet reported his death.
Born in Pyongyang in 1938, Chang was a former basketball player who later became one of North Korea’s best-known international sports officials. He served as the country’s only IOC member after being elected in 1996 and played a central role in sports diplomacy between the two Koreas.
Chang largely disappeared from the international stage after the IOC session in Switzerland in 2019, though the IOC later recognized him with the Olympic Order in 2023.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260401010000355