Late Choi Sook-hyun's Team 'Gyeongju City Sports Council' Faces 30 Legal Violations and 440 Million KRW in Unpaid Wages

Ministry of Employment Announces Results of Special Labor Inspection at Gyeongju City Sports Council on the 30th
34.5% of Respondents "Experienced Harassment in the Last 6 Months"
Additional Labor Inspections to be Conducted at 30 Local Sports Councils Nationwide Next Month

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] A total of 20 labor law violations, including workplace harassment, were identified at the Gyeongju City Sports Council, where the human rights violation case of the late athlete Choi Sook-hyun occurred.

It was also revealed that triathlon coach Kim assaulted other athletes besides Choi, and unpaid wages over the past three years amounted to 440 million KRW.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 30th the results of a special labor inspection jointly conducted by the Daegu Regional Employment and Labor Office and the Pohang Branch from the 10th of last month to the 21st of this month targeting the Gyeongju City Sports Council.

First, to confirm whether there were additional athletes who suffered assault besides Choi, a survey was conducted among current and former athletes, revealing that triathlon coach Kim had also assaulted other athletes.

In a workplace harassment survey (29 out of 61 employees participated), 34.5% of respondents reported experiencing workplace harassment at least once in the past six months.

The perpetrators were mostly senior employees, and most victims either endured it alone or informed those around them after the incident.

The reasons for enduring alone included responses such as "because addressing it does not resolve the issue" or "due to the perpetrator's influence," indicating an urgent need to improve the organizational culture in the sports community.

Additionally, although all athletes signed one-year labor contracts, it was found that statutory allowances such as overtime and holiday work pay were not properly paid.

The Gyeongju City Sports Council failed to pay approximately 440 million KRW in overtime, holiday allowances, annual leave pay, and severance pay to 78 current and former employees over the past three years. Basic labor order violations, such as failure to provide written notice of working conditions, were also generally not observed.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to conduct supplementary investigations on criminal offenses such as assault and wage arrears and will forward the entire case to the prosecution. They will also promptly impose fines and recommend improvements to the unreasonable organizational culture.

The Ministry will conduct additional labor inspections over about three weeks from the 7th to the 29th of next month targeting 30 local sports councils nationwide.

Kim Deok-ho, head of the Labor Inspection Policy Division at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, stated, "The inspection results of the Gyeongju City Sports Council exposed many issues in the blind spots of labor laws."

He added, "We hope to thoroughly inspect other local sports councils that may be in similar situations and improve any unfair and unreasonable organizational cultures."

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