Four Korean athletes are vying for a seat on the Athletes' Commission of the International Olympic Committee.
Weightlifter Jang Mi-ran, Shooter Jin Jong-oh, foil fencer Nam Hyun-hee and table tennis player Ryu Seung-min applied for the nomination to the Korean Olympic Committee, which will select the final candidate by next week and register him or her with the IOC by Sept. 15.
Members elected to an eight-year term on the Athletes' Commission have same voting rights and status as ordinary IOC members. They are important sports diplomats, and therefore need good language skills and manners.
The next election takes place during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
According to the Olympic Charter, the IOC can have a maximum of 115 members, and there are currently only 101, 15 of them athletes.
Moon Dae-sung is the current Korean member of the Athletes' Commission, but his term comes to an end next year.
If a Korean candidate gets selected in Rio, it will mean the end of figure skating star Kim Yu-na's dream of joining the commission.
In order to be eligible, a candidate needs to be active or have competed at the last Olympics, so Kim's only chance is the election at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, as she retired after the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
The IOC does not admit more than one athlete member from any country, so if no Korean athlete is elected this time, Kim is still in with a chance.
