Ex-official flexed muscle in skating union
A former South Korean speed skating official, who mentored multiple gold medalists at the Winter Olympics, abused his power for years to control various issues within the national skating body, the country’s sports ministry said Wednesday.
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports said Jun Myung-kyu exerted undue influence on key issues in the Korea Skating Union (KSU), even though he had no official position at the national skating body.
The ministry conducted a monthlong joint audit with the Korean Sport &Olympic Committee (KSOC) from March after a series of controversies and corruption allegations were raised against Jun and the KSU following the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.
“Allegations that one specific person had undue influence over the skating community and took part in KSU decisions without authority turned out to be true,” the ministry said.
Jun is considered the “godfather” of the South Korean speed skating community for his achievements. He previously served as the national team short track speed skating head coach and fostered such Olympic champions as Ahn Hyun-soo (now Viktor Ahn), Kim Dong-sung and Chun Lee-kyung.
The 55-year-old later became a KSU vice president. His first stint was from 2009 to 2014, but in March 2014, he quit while facing allegations of encouraging factional feuds within the national short track team.
Jun returned to the post in February 2017, a year before the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, but stepped down from his position in April after the ministry began its audit.
According to the ministry’s audit, Jun exercised undue influence to punish the speed skating national team coach for the 2013 Winter Universiade while he was serving as a KSU Vice President. Using his private network, Jun ordered his acquaintances to write requests to penalize the coach and submit them to the KSU.
The ministry said Jun abused his power even after quitting the vice presidency to push the union to terminate its contract with a Dutch coach and hire a Canadian.
The ministry said Jun was involved in a controversy in which some national speed skaters were accused of receiving undue favors, being allowed to train separately at Korea National Sports University in Seoul ahead of the PyeongChang Olympics.
“We understand the need for separate training, but that was allowed to only certain skaters in a selective way,” the ministry said. “The management and care of other athletes was poor. Jun was involved in this sepa- rate training scheme and inappropriate method of coaching.”
The ministry said that even if Jun currently holds no position at the KSU, the skating body should punish him. The ministry said it also found multiple wrongdoings within the KSU, including the operation of an executive board. The KSOC ruled in 2016 that no sports body should have an executive board system because it can be used as a means to privatization, but the ministry’s audit found that the KSU has maintained the system, helping Jun to abuse his power.
The ministry said it also found evidence of inappropriate hiring of national team coaching staff and selection of national team athletes, as well as suspicious processes in choosing national sponsors and a team uniform provider. (Yonhap)
No bullying
There was no premeditated bullying behind a controversial speed skating race at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the sport ministry said Wednesday following its investigation into the case.
The incident happened during the quarterfinals of the women’s team pursuit at Gangneung Oval in Gangneung, some 230 kilometers east of Seoul, on Feb. 19. In this discipline, the team is timed when the last skater of the three crosses the finish line. But for South Korea, two skaters, Kim Bo-reum and Park Ji-woo, left their teammate, Noh Seon-yeong, far behind as they skated over the finish line.
Kim also came under fire for throwing Noh under the bus in her post-race interview, taking thinly veiled shots at Noh for falling behind while wearing a smirk. It caused an uproar among the angry public, with hundreds of thousands signing an online petition at Cheong Wa Dae’s website to get Kim off the national team.