Halla Group Chairman Chung Mong-won has been
inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Hall of Fame.
He is the first Korean and the fifth Asian
to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Ice hockey in South Korea has long been on the ‘periphery.’
This is proven by how the IIHF reacted when
Pyeongchang was announced as the host of the 2018 Winter Olympics in 2011.
The IIHF claimed that South Korea,
which was ranked 31st in the world,
could be only sent to the Olympics
if the men’s team moved into the Top 18 of the world rankings.
Put simply, they weren’t generous in granting an automatic qualification even to the host country.
However, ice hockey in South Korea completely reconstructed itself,
producing an honored guest of the IIHF in just 10 years.
This honored guest is none other than Halla Group Chairman Chung Mong-won,
who led the remarkable growth of ice hockey in South Korea.
Chung’s passion, devotion, and drive
are also famous among the IIHF.
Inaugurated as the President of the Korea Ice Hockey Association in 2013
to have South Korea’s ice hockey team qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics,
Chairman Chung Mong-won was willing to do whatever it took.
In November 2013, the IIHF summoned the Korea Ice Hockey Association over to Zurich, Switzerland
to check how prepared the South Korean team was for the Olympics.
Having visited Zurich with some of the officials,
Chung succeeded in convincing the IIHF
of the legitimacy of South Korean team’s qualification.
Chung’s passion and enthusiasm that day changed how
the IIHF and other leading nations of ice hockey perceived South Korea.
Despite the continuous difficulties and ordeals,
Chung refused to give up.
In the IIHF World Championship Division I Group A
at Goyang, Gyeonggi-do in April 2014,
South Korea lost five out of five games, seeing the team ranked as the lowest.
This caused a setback to South Korea’s plan
to confirm the qualification for the Olympics with flying colors
at the ‘2014 IIHF Annual Congress’ to be held in May.
Chung sent a revised plan to the IIHF
and recruited Jim Paek (Baek Chi-sun), who had some experience in
the North American ice hockey league as a director and a player.
This led the South Korean ice hockey team to
qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics in September 2014.
Since then, ice hockey in South Korea has shown an incredible amount of growth,
taking the world by surprise.
South Korea and Norway at the 2018 IIHF World Championship finals.
South Korea was ranked 2nd at the 2017 IIHF World Championship
Division I Group A held in Kyiv, Ukraine,
joining the ranks of world champions.
This proved that, with their ceaseless efforts, South Korea
deserved to earn a place in the Olympics.
Ice hockey in South Korea finally began to
be ‘respected’ in the world.
The IIHF gave the compliment that Korea is a ‘good student.’
In February 2020, the IIHF decided to induct Chung Mong-won,
who led the remarkable growth of ice hockey in South Korea,
into the IIHF Hall of Fame.
The IIHF has always wanted ice hockey to be
more active throughout Asia, especially East Asia.
The dramatic story of ice hockey in South Korea
was enough to deliver a positive message
to countries showing poor performance in ice hockey.
IIHF President Luc Tardif (France) and
Senior Vice President Petr Briza (Czech Republic)
paid their respects to Chung’s devotion, claiming that
it has contributed greatly to the development of ice hockey in Asia.
We hope for tremendous success in South Korean ice hockey,
remembering Chairman Chung Mong-won’s dedication
who laid the foundation for the development of ice hockey in South Korea.