By Kim Hyun-bin

A Samsung Group executive will run for the top post of the International Skating Union (ISU) after current ISU President Jan Dijkema announced that he will step down.

Samsung Global Strategy Group President Kim Jae-youl was nominated by the Korea Skating Union (KSU) as a presidential candidate for the ISU. Kim is currently a member of the ISU Council which he joined in 2016 after serving as KSU President, according to KSU.

"We are fully confident that his extensive experience in global business will help take the ISU and skating to another level of expansion and popularity," KSU President Yoon Hong-geun said.

The KSU nominated Kim based on his experience in sports administration and significant contributions to skating. On top of serving as president of the KSU, Kim was as an executive vice president of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Organizing Committee, vice president of the Korea Olympic Committee, and an IOC Coordination Commission Member for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Kim Jae-youl

Kim also played a pivotal role in winning the rights to host nine major ISU events.

"I am a huge fan of skating. It was my first winter sport, as it is with many people around the world. But skating faces challenges with stalled revenues and increased competition. To ignite the sport's full potential and reach new fans and markets, the next ISU president must have a long-term strategic plan for growth and the business acumen to implement this plan," Kim said. "I believe that my background of 25 years in global business coupled with experience working with media and commercial partners have prepared me to take on this role."

Kim's nomination comes after Dijkema announced that he is to step down at the end of his current term. His term was extended by four years in 2018, but he has revealed he will not run again at the next ISU Congress, which is scheduled to take place in Phuket, Thailand in June.

If appointed at the congress in June, Kim will become the 12th president since the ISU was founded in 1892.

Kim is the current president of Samsung Global Strategy Group and has over 25 years' experience of executive roles across Samsung and other global companies including Sports Business, Cheil Worldwide and Samsung Engineering.

Kim was born in 1968 and has a bachelors in international politics from Wesleyan University, a masters in international politics from John's Hopkins University and an MBA from Stanford University.