A ruling party lawmaker was elected Friday as the head of South Korea’s top men’s professional basketball league.
Rep. Han Sun-kyo of the Grand National Party will replace Chon Yook as the commissioner of the Korean Basketball League. Han won seven votes among 10 KBL clubs, a day after the two remained tied following five rounds of voting.
Rep. Han Sun-kyo of the Grand National Party. (Yonhap News)
Chon’s term is set to end at the end of August. Han, who lost his bid to Chon three years ago, is the first incumbent legislator to take the reins at the KBL.
As a television broadcaster before his political career, Han did play-by-play announcing for local basketball games and served as a public address announcer for a KBL club in the 1990s.
Han has pledged to help restore the popularity of the league by placing more games on network television.
The KBL was founded in 1997, riding the massive popularity of semi-pro and university teams in annual national tournaments.
(Yonhap News)