Kim Min-jae, a veteran sports photographer well known in the international sports community, has received a government medal for his contributions to the development and promotion of Korean sports. 

Sports photographer Kim Min-jae poses with the Sports Merit Medal he received in Seoul on Thursday for contributing to promotion of Korean sports.


Kim, who started his sports photojournalism in the 1980s, is now an official photographer of two leading international organizations -- the Olympic Council of Asia and the Association of National Olympic Committees.

The Sports Merit Medal Kim received Wednesday is the latest among numerous tributes he has won at home and abroad. Previous honors include the Order of Cultural Merit accorded by the Korean government and an order granted by the ANOC.

Kim, who started his career with the Sports Ministry in the 1980s, has since covered major international sporting events like the Asian Games, Olympic Games, meetings and leaders. He eventually landed the job of official photographer for the Kuwait-based OCA and the Lausanne, Switzerland-based ANOC.

“I’m very happy I was able to record not only major international sporting events but also the Who’s Who in the international sports community,” Kim said in an interview.

Kim made friends and acquaintances with many big names in the sports world that most of the 15 photo exhibitions he has held so far drew the two recent former presidents and the incumbent leader of the International Olympic Committee -- Juan Antonio Samaranch, Jacques Rogge and Thomas Bach.

Kim’s most recent exhibition, which was held in time for the Incheon Asian Games in 2014, also opened under the auspices of Bach and Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, president of both the OCA and the ANOC.

Kim has also compiled his works into five photo albums so far, which chronicled many memorable moments of international competitions and annual meetings of such major organizations like the IOC, ANOC and OCA.

Kim’s latest photo book, titled “Memories of OCA in Photography,” was published in 2014, which also drew praise from sports leaders. It received the annual Seoul Print Award sponsored by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

For Kim, all these accomplishments still fall short. Kim said he is working on a new photo book featuring the ANOC, which embraces 206 National Olympic Committees and eight associate NOCs recognized by the IOC.

“Founded in 1979, the ANOC -- along with the IOC -- has been a pillar of the Olympic Movement and a driving engine for sports development around the world,” Kim said.

“It would be meaningful for me and the sports community to have a photo book illustrating activities and leaders of the ANOC, which is an essential part of the world sports history,” Kim said.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)