Violence dies hard in sports, military
Hwang Woo-man, a weightlifting rookie, lies in a hospital in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, Saturday. His cheekbone was fractured after he was beaten by senior athlete Sa Jae-hyouk, inset. / Yonhap
Ex-weightlifting champ suspended for ten years
By Lee Kyung-min
Violence among the ranks is still prevalent among professional athletes as well as in military barracks.
Experts say that the violence in those sectors is attributable to a culture which values a hierarchic order and requires members to endure “hardship.”
The Korea Weightlifting Federation, Monday, slapped a 10-year suspension on Olympic weightlifting champion Sa Jae-hyouk, 31, who was questioned by police for allegedly beating up a younger weightlifter, Hwang Woo-man.
The ban will force the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medalist to virtually end not only his 2016 Rio Olympic bid but also his athletic career.
Sa was alleged to have hit the 20-year-old prospect in his face, during a year-end gathering in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, Dec. 31. Hwang was hospitalized after sustaining cheekbone fractures that will require six weeks to recover from.
It was found that Sa also slapped Hwang in the face during training in February last year. Sa told police that he was talking with Hwang about a “misunderstanding” regarding the previous incident but became agitated and hit Hwang again.
Police are considering seeking an arrest warrant for Sa.
People in the sports sector themselves are well aware of the problem and have attempted to root out such unhealthy practices. In 2014, violence was one of the “axis of evil” designated by the Korean Olympic Committee alongside illegal gambling on sports, corruption in athletes’ admission and corruption in operating organizations.
In the military sector, the Marine Corps police booked two non-commissioned officers (NCOs) on Sunday for beating up a subordinate who dozed off during a staff gathering.
The 20-year-old victim, whose identity was withheld, was hospitalized after sustaining physical injuries that required one month of treatments as well as emotional trauma.
The abuse case comes less than six months after the Marine Corps spearheaded a nationwide anti-violence campaign with the slogan “A marine does not hit another marine.”
Despite such efforts in both sectors, the long-held practices remain unshaken.
According to experts, such violence is not only wrong but poses a grave danger because it can further justify other forms of abuse. “Both soldiers and athletes have one thing in common: victory,” said an official at the Citizens’ Solidarity for Human Rights.
“Their sole goal is to win. No matter what it takes, they need to win. Players and soldiers might be subject to a certain amount of abuse, but at the end of the day, they are indoctrinated in a way not to pay attention to such treatment itself but to focus on the big picture: victory,” he added.
Those who suffer a great degree of violence are highly likely to become more abusive, he added.
He also said it is another problem that older athletes regard different opinions raised by younger ones as defiance. “A lot of their training involves learning to endure frustration and anger. It is about time that they need to change their stance, recognizing that violence in any form is intolerable on any occasion.”
Kyonggi University Professor Lee Sue-jeong suggested that setting up a monitoring agency with authority to investigate alleged abuse cases is the key to prevention.
“Those subject to abuse should be allowed to voice their experiences more openly, without the fear of being persecuted by the alleged abusers,” she said.