Korean Sports Council on "Unintentional Actions During Adolescence"... Concerns Over Perception of 'Violence Transmission'

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Players Lee Jae-young and Lee Da-young who participated in the game last October. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] As the past school violence controversy involving professional volleyball players twin sisters Lee Jaeyoung and Dayoung spreads throughout the sports community, the Korea Sports Council has described school violence (hakpok) as "actions carelessly committed during adolescence," sparking criticism that it is defending the perpetrators.

Some argue that this perception within the sports community forms the basis for the recurring violence issues in sports. Experts emphasize the need for a comprehensive change in the elite sports development system.

On the 18th, the Korea Sports Council submitted a response titled "Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Direction on Harsh Acts Including School Violence by Athletes" to the office of Jeon Yonggi, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee from the Democratic Party. The response stated, "It may be excessively harsh in some cases to permanently bar individuals from entering the sports world for actions carelessly committed during adolescence."

The Council diagnosed the cause of continued harsh acts as "student athletes, during their adolescent period lacking self-reflection, express the pressure of performance through harsh acts toward their closest teammates."

It added, "Just as there are programs supporting social reintegration for criminals who have been criminally punished, there is a need for institutional measures to help school violence perpetrators reflect, reform, and re-enter society through appropriate punishment and regulation, followed by recidivism prevention education and community service orders."

Male volleyball player Park Cheol-woo of Korea Electric Power Corporation after being assaulted by men's volleyball national team coach Lee Sang-ryeol (current KB Insurance head coach) in September 2009, appearing at a press conference. / Yonhap News

Citizens who have seen the Sports Council's stance on school violence are outraged. They point out that despite victims suffering severe mental distress after enduring violence, the issue is still being treated lightly.

Netizens criticized, saying, "Were only the perpetrators adolescents at that time? The victims were adolescents too," "Not everyone as a teenager 'accidentally' or 'carelessly' bullies or commits violence," and "Such claims dangerously suggest that if one is talented, they can be excused for committing school violence during adolescence."

Violence issues within the sports community have been a persistent controversy in the past as well. In July last year, triathlon national athlete the late Choi Sukhyeon took her own life after suffering harsh acts from her team coach and teammates.

The Gyeongju City Sports Council, to which Choi belonged, made statements defending those accused of assaulting her when they denied the allegations.

In an interview with a media outlet, a Gyeongju City Sports Council official said, "Other witnesses say they did not see the coach hitting. The victim (Choi) and the perpetrator have a senior-junior relationship spanning 10 years from high school. With a 10-year age gap, one cannot hit the other. They don't even look at each other," showing an attitude of neglecting the incident.

There are cases where individuals with a history of assaulting athletes remain in the sports community as coaches. Park Cheolwoo, a male professional volleyball player for Korea Electric Power Corporation, revealed that he was assaulted in 2009 by coach Lee Sangyeol (KB Insurance), who was then the men's volleyball national team coach.

Although Lee received a lifetime suspension from the Korea Volleyball Association for this incident, he returned as a game operations committee member of the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) two years later in 2011. Ahead of this season, he was appointed as the KB Insurance coach.

Korean Sport & Olympic Committee. / Photo by Yonhap News

Consequently, some voices are growing louder, criticizing that the sports community's lenient attitude toward perpetrators of violence forms the foundation for the failure to eradicate violence within sports.

Experts stress that it is time for a change in the elite-oriented and vested interest mindset prevalent in the sports community.

Professor Jung Yongcheol of Sogang University's Department of Sports Psychology commented on the Sports Council's stance on the school violence controversy, saying, "It shows that the vested interests' perspective in the sports community still persists," and criticized, "The statements the Sports Council makes whenever violence incidents occur are incomprehensible and disconnected from the common sense of the general public."

Professor Jung added, "The sports community still believes that coercive methods are necessary for performance and tries to cover up rather than eradicate this. They think the issue will be forgotten over time. However, social awareness of violence has changed compared to the past," and suggested, "There needs to be a shift in perception that even if corporal punishment leads to good results, it is acceptable. Although this will not disappear overnight, the existing elitism must be discarded, and the overall power structure of the sports community must be changed."

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