Court: "'Wangtta Controversy' Noh Seon-yeong Must Pay Kim Bo-reum 3 Million Won in Compensation"

Kim Bo-reum / Gangneung = Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Kim Bo-reum, a national speed skating representative at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, won a partial ruling in her defamation lawsuit against former national representative Noh Seon-yeong, who was involved in a past 'bullying on the ice' controversy. However, the court did not accept the claim regarding the 'false interview.'

On the 16th, the Civil Division 36 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Hwang Soon-hyun) ruled partially in favor of Kim Bo-reum in a 200 million KRW damages claim against Noh Seon-yeong, ordering the defendant to pay the plaintiff 3 million KRW.

On this day, the court recognized that senior Noh Seon-yeong verbally abused and cursed junior Kim Bo-reum three times between November and December 2017, accusing her of skating faster lap times.

However, the court did not accept Kim Bo-reum’s claim that she suffered damages from Noh Seon-yeong’s interview, viewing the interview content as merely opinions. The court explained, "Some facts that appear to be false were not directly referring to the plaintiff but rather raised issues about the federation or were somewhat exaggerated feelings from the defendant’s perspective."

Previously, Kim Bo-reum was criticized for seemingly disregarding teamwork by leaving Noh Seon-yeong behind and crossing the finish line first in the women's team pursuit at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. In an interview at the time, she said, "We were skating well, but at the end, the gap with (Noh Seon-yeong) behind us widened, so the record came out a bit disappointing."

In addition, Noh Seon-yeong claimed, "We just trained in different places and didn’t have opportunities to meet. The atmosphere wasn’t very good," alleging that bullying occurred even during training, which intensified the 'bullying controversy.'

Subsequently, Kim Bo-reum gave interviews stating that she was continuously harassed and verbally abused by Noh Seon-yeong and filed a damages lawsuit seeking 200 million KRW.

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