Ryu Seung-min, the president-elect of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, speaks at a press conference held at a hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, Jan. 16. Yonhap

The labor union at the national Olympic committee congratulated President-elect Ryu Seung-min on Friday, urging him to implement changes and improve working conditions for the employees.

The union at the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) congratulated Ryu on staging a "miracle" of a win over Lee Kee-heung, who was seeking his third term, in the election held Tuesday. The union likened Ryu's victory to his upset win over then-world No. 1 Wang Hao in the men's table tennis singles final at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

"We'd also like to thank the voters for making the choice to bring about change," the union said in a statement. "This is time for change and reform. We'd like to ask the president-elect to lead the way for repairing the relationship with the government and restoring our organization, and also to listen more closely to people working in sports."

The union also called on Ryu to keep his line of communication with the KSOC employees and help improve their morale and working conditions.

About 80 percent of the KSOC workforce are union members. In November, the union demanded Lee not go for a third term, with the then president facing a series of misconduct allegations.

Government inspectors accused Lee of misappropriating official funds and engaging in illegal hiring practices. They also alleged Lee of verbally abusing KSOC staff.

At his press conference Thursday, Ryu said he wanted to build a system open to opinions from different sources. (Yonhap)