Click and download - Transparency Books

Work experience:
Professorship at the Beijing Foreign Studies University (2010-)
Criminal issues: none reported (see “Olympic Values” and Legal issues below).
Charity: none reported
“Olympic Values”: Chang Ung was appointed the President of the International Taekwando
Federation (ITF) in 2002 under controversial circumstances after the death of previous president, ITF
founder General Choi Hong Hi on June 15, 2002. General Choi Hong Hi wanted to choose his only
son as the successor even though there was a lot of resistance, then the father and son relationship
soured. With the conflict with his son, Gen. Choi handpicked Russell MacLellan as the Senior Vicepresident
to fulfill the role as acting President if anything happened to him. At this time Chang Ung’s
name was never mentioned.
Due to rapid changes in the political situation in both Koreas and General Choi's admission to the
hospital in North Korea, he changed his appointment again, this time from MacLellan to Chang Ung.
The sudden appearance of Chang Ung surprised much of the present core ITF members. However,
during a special Congress of the ITF and at the memorial if Choi Hong Hi on September 22, 2002,
presidents and representatives from 46 national Taekwon-Do federations unanimously elected Chang
Ung as president of the ITF. He was re-elected as president on October 13, 2009.
Legal Issues: In June 2003, several of the ITF federations in Europe (Germany, Poland, Spain)
petitioned the court in Vienna (where the ITF is legally registered), pointing out that the Chang Ung
group were not the legitimate officers of the ITF and asking for an injunction to stop them from
claiming that the competitions they had planned for Thessalonica (Greece) were the official ITF World
Championships. The judge noted that Chang Ung had not been elected President of ITF as stipulated in
the Constitution and, therefore, he had no connection with the ITF or its legal registration in Vienna.
Because the competitions were being held in Greece, out of his jurisdiction, the judge declined to grant
an injunction.
In February 2004, GM Hwang Kwang Sung, President of USA-ITF sent a letter to ITF members
announcing his resignation as Secretary General for the Chang Ung group, claiming wrongdoing by
Chang Ung and calling for his resignation as president. Allegations included illegal black belt degree
promotions, $160,000 USD taken from ITF bank account, disappearance of more than $1M USD for
the ITF retirement plan.
In October 2006, a decision by Judge Susanne Korn of the Provincial Court for Civil Law Matters
(Vienna) was issued. The ITF had sued the Chang Ung group for falsely claiming to be the real ITF.
The question was: Who are the real leaders of the ITF? The judgment stated that: The appointment
and/or registration of Chang Ung as President as well as of other officers’ names during the summer of
2004 and all measures taken by them on behalf of the ITF and all resolutions passed at the meeting held
on 26 July 2004 are null and void. The executive committee members elected at the Congress in
Warsaw are the legitimate officers of the ITF. This case was decided in favour of the ITF (with costs to
be paid by the Chang Ung group), since the Chang Ung group did not appear in court. The Chang Ung
group subsequently appealed this decision, because they had not received legal notice of the case.
97