The cruelty of success - Korean athletes speak up

Shim Suk-hee continues training despite her ordeals. Shim was beaten and allegedly raped by her coach. Other athletes have reported abuse from coaches that included beatings, deprivation, sexual abuse and threats to end their careers if they made reports. Yonhap

By Amanda Price

"Winning isn't everything … except when it is."

Sports psychologist Professor Chung Young-chul explained: "Sports associations turn a blind eye as long as the sex abusers manage to produce high-performing athletes in this blind pursuit of medals above all ― and their abuses are considered a small, insignificant price to pay in this process." Korea Times files

This is the dualistic message that many South Korean athletes have become all too familiar with.

The #MeToo campaign set alight fires in many sectors of South Korean society, revealing that sexual abuse and violence toward women, the young, the elderly, and even men were painfully present in many sectors of society.

One sector of society, however, waited far too long to be noticed. South Korea's athletes had watched the #MeToo campaign gain momentum while they themselves continued to be trapped in a dome of silence.

Last year, Kim Eun-hee, a former professional tennis player who represented Korea at Asian and Olympic Games, told the international media that, while only a child, she had been raped repeatedly by her tennis coach.

"The coach was the king of my world, dictating everything about my daily life, from how to exercise to when to sleep and what to eat," said Kim, adding that he beat her repeatedly as part of "training."

When the sporting authorities were advised of parents' concerns, the coach was simply moved on to train another group of young players.

Another athlete who has attempted to break the silence is short-track speed skater Shim Suk-hee.

As her case was investigated, including her disappearance weeks before she was to compete in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Sports Ministry discovered that Shim had been beaten by her long-time coach Cho Jae-beom. Further investigations found that Cho had, in fact, also physically abused three other athletes.

Shim has also come forward with claims that Cho not only beat her, but had been repeatedly raping her since she was 17 years old. Cho has denied allegations of rape but has admitted to the physical abuse.

Choe Jae-beom is now serving a mere 10 months in jail for physically assaulting four female skaters on separate occasions.? The chief of the Human Rights Commission explained:?"Violence is exonerated in the performance-centered culture." Yonhap

Cho is now serving a mere 10-month sentence, but those with inside knowledge claim that this case is just the tip of the iceberg.

As the dome of silence began to shatter into chards, other athletes came forward, claiming to have suffered abuse at the hands of coaches and trainers, assumed to be the most trustworthy members of the sporting community.

Stories also emerged of merciless training regimes where young athletes, who would often live with their coaches or in dorms, were forbidden to tell their parents about their mistreatment.

When athletes did report incidents to their parents, officials often intervened, promising to caution coaches, while urging parents not to jeopardize the future of their children's sporting careers.

The question that no one could ignore is how had Korea's prestigious sporting establishment managed to fly under the radar for so long?

The answers to this question were alarming.

At every corner, athletes who found the courage to report mistreatment were stonewalled by authorities, who were more concerned about shielding the abusers and, consequently, their reputation for producing winners.

Even supposedly impartial advisers, who were selected to receive athletes' concerns, proved to be anything but impartial, shielding the villains rather the victims for the sake of success.

Chung Young-chul, a professor of sports psychology at Sogang University, claims that these revelations were not new.

Government authorities, he said, had been aware of the situation for at least a decade and had promised more than once to investigate these crimes, many of which were against children.

Tragically for many victims, the "stubborn culture of impunity" toward male leaders meant that little changed. Coaches, the father figures of the sporting community, were creating winners and that was what mattered.

National pride also factored into this issue, especially as South Korea continued to gain attention as a sporting powerhouse.

In 2014, the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee was made aware that one in every seven female athletes claimed to have experienced sexual misconduct from a sporting authority or senior athlete.

In 2015, the short-track coach of the Hwaseong City team, and once an Olympic champion, was merely fined for his sexual misconduct toward female skaters, including an 11-year-old girl.

As Professor Chung explained: "Sports associations turn a blind eye as long as the sex abusers manage to produce high-performing athletes in this blind pursuit of medals ― and their abuses are considered a small, insignificant price to pay in this process".

And apparently, those in power who knew shared a similar belief.

Compelled not by the revelations of abuse, but by the number of athletes that were now coming forward, as well as the thousands of petitions pouring into the Blue House, the government at last began taking action.

The South Korean Education Minister announced: "In order to eradicate sexual assaults and violence in the sports arena, there is a need to conduct a fundamental and comprehensive review of the training system that focuses on fostering elite athletes, as well as to break the cartel of silence."

As of the beginning of this year, South Korea's Human Rights Commission, in response to the multiple allegations of abuse and violence, took steps to launch an independent and thorough investigation into the exploitation and abuse of athletes.

The commission intends to interview thousands more athletes over the course of the year in its attempts to uncover the depth of this widespread evil. As cases of abuse are verified, the commission will then recommend perpetrators be prosecuted.

As well, the government will review its policies regarding sport and consider separating the Korean Sport and Korean Olympic committee. They will also open a register for coaches and require them "to undergo education on the prevention of violence."

These last changes are perhaps the most underwhelming.

The question that South Korean parents should be asking is why were coaches not already on registers? Why was education for anyone caring for minors not mandatory, and why has the government waited for years to investigate an issue it has been aware of for so long?

But at the heart of this reprehensible crisis is the unspoken belief that winning at any cost is what a national athlete must be prepared to do.

The chief of the Human Rights Commission, Choi-Young-ae, explained at a media conference: "Physical and sexual harassment in the sports community takes place repeatedly within a structured system, rather than accidently. Violence is exonerated in this performance-centered culture."

The South Korean sporting world's "performance-centered culture," the culture of winning at all costs, has driven South Korea's medal tally upward, but has simultaneously exposed young athletes to predators who are paid to be their mentors and sporting guardians.

It is little wonder that previous and current governments have chosen to push this social evil sideways. When one thinks of nations who forced their athletes to win at any cost, China and Russia first come to mind. That athletes could be regularly abused in a free, democratic and internationally respected country defies understanding.

Of course, crimes against athletes have been committed by other countries. In the U.S., the official doctor of the national gymnastics team was prosecuted for molesting athletes. The doctor in question, however, received a sentence of more than 300 years, not 10 months, for his multiple offences.

The entire USA Gymnastic board of directors resigned, as did the president of the university where the sports doctor worked.

The Korea National Sport University will be investigated after allegations of sexual abuse. The Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism, Do Jong-hwan, stated:?"We can't push athletes to extreme competition under the goal of advancing national pride and let human rights violations happen in the course." Yonhap

Thus far in South Korea, an apology has been extended to victims by the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee, but no one has been fired, tendered their resignation, or even offered to step down from their post.

Certainly, there are outstanding Korean athletes who have earned their success through hard work, but how many others experienced success at the point of a knife?

More than a cleanup of South Korea's sporting community is required. There must be a much deeper reflection by government and authorities on why success has commanded priority and why success has been so powerfully promoted.

South Korean citizens should not be calmed, nor their fears allayed. They must remain outraged, and in that spirit of indignation, demand safety and justice for every athlete.

They must also insist that cruelty must never again be used to achieve success.

The guilty must face the full arm of the law and not be given just a slap on the wrist.

If these scandalous revelations do not compel the entire nation to demand that South Korea's sporting bodies become transparent and accountable, then this behavior will diminish only to resurface another day.

Perhaps this eradication of evil may cost South Korea a medal or two. Perhaps South Korea's ranking might slightly fall. On the other hand, perhaps Korean athletes will thrive and excel in an environment of safety and care.

Regardless of wins or loses, nothing really matters if the cost of gold requires the trampling of innocence and the crushing of souls.

Amanda Price is the former Director of Hillcrest College's International Student Department. She has a background in science, history and literature and has been consulting on Asian affairs for more than 10 years. Her special interest is world history and she is the founder of Griffith University's History Readers. She writes full time and can be reached at amanda-price@bigpond.com