Earlier this year, Seoul's Kookmin University revoked the degree of Moon, winner of a taekwondo gold medal at Athens 2004, after ruling he had copied parts of a local scholar's doctoral thesis.

But he filed a suit against the school, demanding that it reversed the decision. 

The Seoul Northern District Court, however, backed the school's decision, ruling that parts of Moon's paper clearly matched another person's work.

Moon had received doctorate in August 2007 with a paper entitled the "Effect of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation on Flexibility and Isokinetic Muscle Strength in Taekwondo Practitioners".

But In March 2012, it was alleged he had copied large portions of the work written by the other researcher.  

Moon Dae-sung was an influential member of the team involved in Pyeongchang's successful bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics ©Getty Images

Kookmin University conducted an investigation and ruled that Moon's paper "goes beyond what is normally permitted by the academic community" and that it was full of "serious plagiarisms".

They formally stripped Moon, who had played a leading role in Pyeongchang's successful bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, of the degree in March. 

Moon, 36, appealed on the basis that he had permission to use the work of the fellow researcher and that the decision to strip him of his doctorate was politically motivated. 

As well as being a member of the IOC, Moon holds a Parliamentary seat in a district in the southern port city of Busan, representing South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party.

He had left the party amid the allegations but rejoined the party in February.