Judoka joins #MeToo, claims coach sexually assaulted her
A former judoka has claimed she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a former coach, joining a prominent skater in outing the actions of an alleged perpetrator.
In an interview with the vernacular Hankyoreh newspaper published Monday, the 24-year-old Shin Yu-yong accused her high school coach of sexually assaulting her on about 20 occasions from summer 2011 to 2015, following her high school graduation.
Shin claimed the coach, a married man whose identity was withheld, once took her to an OB-GYN clinic for a pregnancy test.
When the coach’s wife became suspicious of his relationship with Shin last year, he offered Shin 500,000 won ($447) in cash to keep her quiet, the former athlete claimed.
Shin filed a complaint with Seoul police in March last year at the height of the "Me Too" movement and made her claims on her Facebook page last November, though they didn’t garner any attention at the time.
A source close to Shin said Monday that Shin decided to give a media interview to raise the profile of her case because police have been moving slowly on her case.
When reached by Hankyoreh, the ex-coach denied sexual assault allegations, saying he was romantically involved with Shin and had an on-again, off-again relationship with her.
Shin’s interview was published six days after allegations by Shim Suk-hee, two-time Olympic short track champion, that she was sexually assaulted by her former coach Cho Jae-beom were first reported.
Cho is already serving a 10-month prison term for physically assaulting Shim and other athletes. Shim testi- fied against Cho in court on Dec. 19, and TV station SBS reported last Tuesday that Shim also filed a complaint over Cho’s alleged sexual assault on the same day.
Shin thanked Shim for inspiring her to speak up, saying it must have been difficult for the skater to step forward because she’s still competing.
Nat’l Olympic committee postpones reshuffle
South Korea’s top sports body on Monday decided to postpone its appointment of new senior officials, amid allegations raised by athletes that they’d been sexually assaulted by their coaches.
The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) had been scheduled to announce its new secretary-general and head of the National Training Center in Jincheon, 90 kilometers south of Seoul, following its board meeting on Tuesday.
But the KSOC said it will instead push the appointments back by a couple of weeks. Its board meeting will take place as scheduled, and KSOC President Lee Kee-heung will hold a press conference afterward to apologize for his lack of oversight and to announce preventive steps.
Accusations raised by Olympic short track champion Shim Suk-hee that she’d been sexually assaulted by her former coach, Cho Jae-beom, have shaken up the sports community.
Cho is serving a 10-month term for physically assaulting Shim and three other skaters. On Dec. 19, Shim filed a complaint against Cho over alleged sexual assault, and it was first reported by the media on Tuesday.
On Monday, a former judoka Shin Yu-yong claimed in an interview that she was sexually assaulted by her high school coach on multiple occasions. Shin thanked Shim for giving her the courage to speak up about her case. In another move, the KSOC decided to hold the official year-opening ceremony at the Jincheon National Training Center on Thursday behind closed doors.