Li Ho-Jun

A small-bore rifle shooter, Li Ho-Jun competed at three Olympic Games, in 1972-80, highlighted by his gold medal at the 1972 München Olympics in the English Match. He is best remembered for a comment he made at the press conference after his gold medal, when he said, “Our Prime Minister, Kim Il-Sung, told us before we left home for the Olympics to shoot as if we were fighting against our enemies, and that’s exactly what I did.” Of note, Li’s father had been killed by American troops early in the Korean War.

DPR Korean officials called a second press conference in München at which Li claimed he had been misunderstood, although by then the same officials had confirmed that his comment was correct. After his competitive career ended Li became a private shooting instructor and then was a personal bodyguard for Kim Jong-Il, leader of the DPR Korea.