This file photo provided by the Korea Skating Union on Jan. 10, 2018, shows South Korean short track speed skaters during training at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, 90 kilometers south of Seoul.
SEOUL, April 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Company-employed, semi-professional winter sports athletes have been subjected to verbal, physical, and sexual violence more frequently than any other types of sports athletes, a state human rights watchdog said Thursday.
The National Human Rights Council of Korea (NHRCK) announced the results of its special investigation on ice sports athletes, in which some 18,000 ice sports athletes from elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as universities and companies participated in an online survey in July and August in 2019.
The results showed that almost all ice sports athletes, excluding university teams, have been subject to various kinds of violence far more frequently than average levels in the sports industry.
The data showed that 26.2 percent of elementary school students, 20.2 percent of middle schoolers, 22.1 percent of high school students, 29.4 percent of college students, and 31.2 percent of company-employed athletes said they had experienced physical violence, easily surpassing average levels throughout all sports.
This file photo shows Cho Jae-beom, former coach of the national short track speed skating team. In January, he was sentenced to 10 1/2 years in prison on charges of sexually assaulting Olympic champion Shim Suk-hee. (Yonhap)
On average, most ice sports athletes said they had experienced physical violence once or twice each year.
In contrast, 45 percent of company-hired, semi-professional ice sports athletes said they had been subject to physical violence at least once or twice each month, while 25 percent said they had been beaten ‘almost every day.’
“Normally, athletes become subject to physical violence more frequently by their peers or senior athletes as they grow older. In contrast, ice sports athletes become subject to violence mostly by their instructors, regardless of age or grade,” the NHRCK said.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
