IOC Member Moon Faces New IOC Ethics Probe

(ATR) An ethics case against South Korean IOC member Dae Sung Moon is likely to open now that a court has upheld charges he plagiarized a university thesis.

Earlier this year, the Olympic taekwondo gold medalist launched a legal challenge to the findings of a university inquiry pronouncing him guilty of plagiarism. That lawsuit prevented the IOC Ethics Commission from proceeding any further. It had briefly opened a file when the charges were first made against Moon in 2012 before awaiting the outcome of the university inquiry.

But an ethics probe is now set to proceed after a Seoul court ruled Thursday that Kookmin University’s 2012 ruling to strip Moon’s doctorate in physical education was legal.

The South Korean Yonhap News Agency reports that Seoul Northern District Court upheld the university’s decision, saying that parts of Moon’s doctoral thesis were copied from another person's work.

Moon has always denied plagiarism and says the accusations he faces are based on politics.

Calls and emails from Around the Rings seeking comment from Moon were not returned.

Following an IOC probe, it is unlikely he would lose his IOC membership. But he is expected to face some form of punishment.

Moon, a gold medalist in taekwondo at the Athens Olympics, was elected to the IOC Athletes Commission in 2008, an eight-year term which included IOC membership.

The 38-year-old also sits on the IOC’s Sport for All Commission.

If the IOC’s punishment for Hungarian Pal Schmitt for plagiarism is any indication, Moon will remain an IOC member. The former Hungarian president received an IOC warning last year despite a university court determining that he plagiarized large portions of his doctoral thesis.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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