[Exclusive] "Regret Most That I Couldn't Stop the Late Choi Sook-hyun from Returning to Gyeongju City Hall"

Interview with Late Choi Sook-hyun's Acquaintance
Became Close During Break from Training
Said She Quit Due to Difficult Harassment
Advised to Join Another Team When Deciding to Return
"She Loved Sports Enough to Join Voluntarily Despite Knowing It Could Be Hard"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] "I regret not stopping Suk-hyun when she said she wanted to quit back then."

A (23), who was close friends with the late triathlete Choi Suk-hyun, who passed away after being bullied by coaches and teammates from her team, lamented this in an exclusive interview with Asia Economy and on social media on the 6th. A met Choi in 2017 when she was 20 years old and had been close for the past three years. Choi frequently contacted A via smartphone messenger and always met up on her days off to spend time together.

A said that when she first met Choi in 2017, "she had already quit sports." When A asked why she quit, Choi said, "I didn’t get along with the team and was bullied within the team. It was very hard." A year later, Choi confided in A that "Gyeongju City Hall keeps contacting me to come back," expressing her dilemma.

Eventually, when Choi decided to return to Gyeongju City Hall, A asked, "Didn't you say it was very hard there before?" Choi replied, "But I really love the sport. I want to do it again." When advised to consider joining another team, Choi said, "I have no competition results from 2018, and I gained a lot of weight during the year off, so I don’t think other teams will accept me," A recalled. Choi returned to Gyeongju City Hall in 2019.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A said, "Suk-hyun really loved triathlon. She went back to Gyeongju City Hall on her own even though she knew it might be tough because she loved it that much." She added, "After returning, she didn’t talk much about the team. Many people regret not telling her to quit if they had known what was happening." In March last year, during training in New Zealand where Choi was assaulted by the coach and team doctor at the dormitory, the message Choi sent to A was, "New Zealand here is so beautiful."

After news of Choi’s death broke, the sports community was plunged into grief. Voices demanding system reform emerged, saying this incident reflects the sad reality of our sports world. A sports official said, "If there had been more options for Choi to continue enjoying sports when she was considering returning to the team in 2018, the situation might have been different," expressing regret. Choi graduated from Gyeongbuk Sports High School in 2017 and joined Gyeongju City Hall without attending college, focusing solely on training and competitions. Therefore, she had almost no options to decide her future outside of her athletic career.

Another official pointed out, "There are hardships and drawbacks in less popular sports." Less popular sports only receive attention and investment if they perform well in major events like the Olympics. As a result, coaches tend to rely on unreasonable training methods, including corporal punishment.

The full details of the incident and the perpetrators’ misconduct are expected to be revealed mostly this week. The political, sports, and investigative sectors are preparing significant actions starting today. According to the legal community, the Daegu District Prosecutors’ Office’s Women and Children Crime Investigation Division (Chief Prosecutor Yang Seon-soon) received Kim, the Gyeongju City Hall coach who assaulted Choi, from the police on the 5th and is currently investigating him. The case was recently transferred from the Gyeongju City Hall branch to the Daegu District Prosecutors’ Office. The prosecution is expected to secure related materials and summon the team doctor suspected of abusing Choi along with Kim for investigation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.