11 25 2002 Letter to ITF Members from GM Hwang, Kwang-sung
To : Members of ITF
From : Grand Master Hwang, Kwang Sung
Acting General Secretary of ITF
Date : November 25, 2002 003-02
Dear Members of ITF,
It is my intention to inform of the progress of ITF.
1) Last week on November 20-24, 2002, our President Mr. Chang Ung was invited to the GAISF meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. This initiates the preparation for ITF participation of the Olympic Games of 2004. He also had a meeting with the President of WTF, Mr. Kim Un Yong, agreeing to further the TKD meetings. This will be done between end of February and beginning of March of next year.
2) On November 16, 2002, the Board of Directors held a meeting at the headquarters of the ITF in Vienna, Austria in which they resolved to expel Mr. Tom MacCallum from the ITF for immoral behaviour and violation of the Austrian law. His actions are as follows:
a) Mr. Tom MacCallum transferred USD 60,000.00 from ITF account to his personal account on September 25, 2002 without the consent of the ITF. He later retransferred USD 30,515.00 to the ITF account on November 8, 2002 under the orders of the Austrian attorney. He spent over USD 13,736.00 under the ITF account after General Choi Hong Hi passed away through October 6, 2002 for his personal advantages.
b) He spent over USD 4,063.00 in his stay in Mongolia at the Genghis Gann Luxury Hotel.
c) He has borrowed from ITF, USD 35,000.00 to invest in his personal business. He has not paid back ITF.
d) He has taken the seal of ITF to his house and has unlawfully established himself as the General Secretary.
e) He has given USD 16,000.00 to Mr. Russell MacLellan without ITF consent.
f) He is being processed by the Austrian Law and police for these matters.
3) We would like to draw attention to the following issues of conduct that may be deemed to be ethically incorrect. These conducts are attributable to Mr. Russell MacLellan who was acting president as of July 6, 2002 to September 22, 2002.
Mr. Russell MacLellan’s case will be formally notified to the ethics committee of his party in Canada and the Bar Association of Nova Scotia.
a) On July 6, 2002, in Toronto, Canada when Mr. MacLellan was presiding the Consultative Council meeting, Mr. Tom McCallum suggested to the Consultative Council members that the International Taekwon-Do Federation could save tax money by classifying black belt “certificate fees” to a different tax category as “membership fees”, thus evading responsibilities to the Austrian government. After hearing Mr. McCallum’s suggestion, Mr. MacLellan corroborated that it was a good idea, thus jeopardizing the ITF’s reputation and diminishing the good will associated with the Federation which is highly regarded worldwide.
b) On that same meeting, Grand Master Hwang suggested that the salary of the acting president should be discussed. His suggestion was disregarded. On August 22, 2002, Mr. McCallum took Italy’s black belt certificate fees of USD $8,000.00 in cash and did not put it into the ITF accounting. Mr. Russell MacLellan, then acting president, took that money of USD $8,000.00 dollars in cash from Master McCallum for his personal use.
As of November 16, 2002, Mr. Russell MacLellan has taken from ITF, USD 8,000.00 more for his personal use without ITF consent, thus totalling USD $16,000.00.
c) On July 20, 2002, General Choi Hong Hi’s testimony was published in the website which Mr. MacLellan deleted part of the testimony in this way omitting two lines in his testimony, thus changing General Choi Hong Hi’s will.
Mr. Russell MacLellan also has deleted the word “President” in the ITF black belt certificates and has put the word “Founder”, without consent of Mrs. Choi Hong Hi, thus unlawfully manipulating Mrs. Choi Hong Hi’s copyright.
d) On November 15, 2002, in Vienna Austria, Mr. Russell MacLellan manifested his discontent to Mr. MacCallum’s behaviour and that he no longer wanted to fight for the presidency of ITF. He wanted to negotiate Mr. MacCallum’s salary after being expelled from ITF. He did not attend the Board of Director’s meeting the next day. On November 19, 2002, Mr. Russell MacLellan sent a letter in General Choi Hong Hi’s website signing himself as president, showing in this way that his decisions do not adhere to the morality of the ITF.
