An Minseok "Biased Judging Foreseen... Due to Samsung Withdrawing Sports Support After National Scandal"(Comprehensive)

"Biased Judgment Issue Attack... Political Intent"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] On the 9th, Ahn Min-seok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, referred to Samsung while commenting on the controversy over biased judging after Korean athletes competing in short track at the Beijing Winter Olympics were disqualified.

On the morning of the same day on CBS Radio, Ahn pointed out, "It was already expected that China would unfairly disqualify athletes from other countries through absurd biased judging and allow their own athletes to win gold medals."

He said, "Why did this happen? I want to talk about Samsung as a key reason," adding, "Samsung supported the Skating Federation for 20 years since 1997, playing a role in helping our athletes reach an international level, but after the political scandal, they withdrew their support for sports."

He continued, "The influence Samsung had on the Skating Federation and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has likely diminished now," and stated, "It is not the same as when Samsung was involved and when it is not."

In that context, he added, "With insufficient support from the federation for the athletes, their performance is bound to decline. Meanwhile, talented coaches like Kim Seon-tae, seeing no vision domestically, are leaving for overseas."

He also pointed out the lack of a sports diplomacy system and the absence of expert development.

Ahn has previously focused on investigating suspicions related to the Choi Soon-sil family, key figures in the past 'political scandal.'

When the interviewer asked for confirmation, "Are you blaming Samsung now?" he explained, "I am stating the fundamental reason."

After some criticism arose that he was blaming Samsung for the biased judging, Ahn clarified through a Facebook post, "I am certainly not blaming Samsung; rather, I was speaking about the positive influence large corporations have on the development of Korean sports and sports diplomacy."

He said, "During my time as chairman of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, I witnessed the Korea Skating Federation struggling as a managed organization after Samsung withdrew support," and added, "I was pointing out that the international diplomatic power of skating sports has significantly declined due to Samsung's cessation of support."

He further emphasized, "Trying to attack me over the biased judging issue at the Beijing Olympics by creating forced logic is clearly politically motivated," and expressed regret over "the distortion of my remarks and malicious criticism."

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