How hockey became South Koreans' dear sport

President Moon Jae-in with ice hockey players on Jan. 17 / Yonhap

Ball is in IOC's court

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Ice hockey is not a popular sport in Korea. The national team is the only women's team that exists in the country.

Unlike men's ice hockey, there are no professional clubs or a league. There are no universities or high schools that have a women's ice hockey program, either.

Such an unheralded sport has rattled the nation in the past two weeks after South Korean politicians hailed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's New Year speech and put forth the two Koreas field a unified women's ice hockey team for the PyeongChang Olympics.

The proposal infuriated the South Korean public.

A recent survey shows seven out of 10 Koreans opposed it. The joint SBS-National Assembly Speaker's Office poll taken this week found 70 percent of the respondents answered they disagreed with the idea to integrate North Korean players into the team.

South Koreans' fury over the women's ice hockey team is something similar to their reaction to "Usaengsoon," a Korean acronym of the 2008 movie "Forever the Moment."

The film is based on the real stories of South Korean women's handball team members who clinched silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics. It shed light on the tears, toil and sweat behind their shiny Olympic medals.

In the summer of 2016, "Take Off 2," the ice hockey version of "Usaengsoon," was released. It depicted the struggles of the women's ice hockey team founding members who juggled two to three jobs to finance their dream -- playing in the Olympics.

In 1998, South Korea had no women's team but they needed it to meet the requirements to host the Winter Asian Games. The team was created after coaching staff recruited those who could skate -- such as speedskaters, figure skaters and a North Korean defector who played ice hockey in the North before she defected to South Korea.

The unprofessional team became an object of ridicule when they played in international games. But the players never gave up.

In 2017, the women's team made headlines for clinching the championship of the International Ice Hockey Federation Championship Division II Group A in the eastern city of Gangneung.

Media coverage of the team abounded, raising the public's awareness of the "miracle" the players pulled together two decades after the team was created.

The Korean public came to sympathize with the players.

Politicians also played a part to upset the public with their slip of the tongue. On Thursday, a Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters the women's ice hockey team benefited a lot from the pros and cons debate about a unified hockey team. "I'm 100 percent sure nobody would have paid attention to them if it wasn't for the proposal," he said asking for anonymity.

"The public's attention came (as our proposal caused a stir). The public came to know their tough working conditions (through the media) and they came to understand players' toil, sweat and sacrifices. It drew attention even from international media."

The official encouraged the reporters to be far-sighted, adding the nation would benefit a lot from a unified hockey team in the long run.

The article about him drew some 1,300 messages from internet users and the vast majority of them were upset at the undisclosed presidential office official.

Internet user spee*** wrote "Tell us what kind of benefits the nation can get." Another internet user 1004**** wrote, "He must be insane."

The Cheong Wa Dae official's senseless remarks came days after Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon's careless comments on the women's ice hockey team regarding its competitiveness.
"Speaking honestly, the women's ice hockey team is not going to win a medal during the Olympics, is it?" His remarks caused a stir.

Internet users slammed what they called self-serving politicians who played the North Korea card for political gain.

A hockey team article posted on the SBS News website has drawn some 16,000 messages.
Internet user gseo*** wrote, "Is this a sport or politics? The Olympics is not a political event." The internet user's message has 22,608 likes, whereas only 3,812 clicked the dislike button. Another internet user adnc**** wrote, "What are we going to host, PyeongChang or Pyongyang?" The message drew 21,686 likes, while 4,337 people thumbed it down.

The fate of the unified hockey team will be decided Saturday during a meeting at the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Earlier, South Korea put forth that the IOC allow team Korea to increase the roster up to 30 members to integrate some North Korean players in the unified team.

All eyes are on the meeting which will be chaired by IOC President Thomas Bach.

Representatives from the two Koreas will join the meeting to present their opinions about the hot potato. Lee Hee-beom, president of the PyeongChang Olympics organizing committee and officials from the national Olympic committees of South and North Korea are in Lausanne for the meeting.

Ryu Seung-min, South Korea's IOC member, will also attend the meeting. IOC President Bach invited him in person.

Ryu is expected to represent the players' position. Earlier, the Olympic gold medalist in table tennis in Athens in 2004 voiced concern about the unified team in a social media message posted on Jan. 14.

"Players are at the heart of the Olympics. Everybody knows this, and (as an IOC member representing South Korea) I always try not to forget this," his post read. "The sad reality is players cannot make their voice heard. I think (the government) should have at least spoken to the players, prior to making such a decision... I think their opinions should be respected as they sweated and practiced a lot (for the Olympics)."

The IOC president reportedly contacted other countries who are sending their women's ice hockey teams to PyeongChang to ask their opinions about the idea to increase a roster for Koreas' hockey team to integrate five or six North Korean players.

The international hockey world reportedly is against the proposal to expand the roster for a unified Korea team. Janos Kick, the head of communications for the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation, said giving a favor to team Korea is unfair.
"In terms of sports and for all teams who invest a lot of money and resources in their women's teams, we are not in favor of this (expanding the roster size only for Korea), because it's not fair and distorts competition," he was quoted as saying by Olympic news website Inside the Games.
Bach as IOC president has a certain level of discretion to decide on the matter, according to an official from the PyeongChang organizing committee. "We have no idea about how it will turn out. We'll see," he said.