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| Short-track speed skaters continue to train amid allegations that their coach raped some of them. Yonhap |
By Oh Young-jin
A national skater claims her coach had been repeatedly raping her since when she was 17. Other skaters then accused the same coach of sexually assaulting them also. Their stories might never have been heard because the skaters were under constant pressure to stick to a code of silence.
The whistleblower won two Olympic gold medals, one in Sochi, Russia, in 2014 and the second in PyeongChang, last year. In hindsight, it looks like taxpayers were paying the coach to be a rapist. But the nation cheered and was happy for the skater's golden performance.
What does all this make us, the people? Considering that others knew about this sexual abuse ― including people who run the nation's sports community ― we as a nation are forced to be an accomplice in this dirty crime. Cheering for the skater, we are reduced to being a conniving bystander on the borderline of collective sadism.
There are cases of state-run "farming" of athletes in Russia and East Germany, where athletes were injected with performance-enhancing hormone cocktails. But this does not exonerate us or lessen the gravity of our crime?
Now former President Chun Doo-hwan, 88, is apparently feigning dementia to avoid appearing in court in a defamation case against him. Chun allegedly referred to a priest as "Satan" for testifying that Army gunships were used to quell protesters against Chun in Gwangju in May 1980.
Chun is a Buddhist using a biblical term, which perhaps is about the only sign that he may be mentally weak.
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| Journalists attend a government briefing about allegations that a coach sexually abused some national short-track speed skaters. Yonhap |
Hundreds of people were killed in a brutal crackdown during the military strongman's consolidation of power before he was elected president in the so-called gymnasium election, in which electoral college members rubber-stamped his nomination virtually under the gun.
Chun faced the death penalty for his bloody power grab and repressive rule, but he received a life sentence and then was pardoned, thanks to election politics.
Now he has twice refused to appear for defamation case hearings in Gwangju, citing his mental health and asking the court to move away the hearing from the site of his killing. But witnesses now say he played a round of golf last month and had no problem counting his score. His aides say Chun's ability to play golf has nothing to do with his dementia.
Chun is also refusing to pay a state-imposed monetary penalty for wealth he pilfered during his eight years in power.
His wife recently called Chun the "father of Korea's democracy."
What does Chun's behavior make us, the nation? He has made us the opposite of being honest, decent, respectful and fair. Sadly, we are not even allowed a chance of poetic justice because the rule of law is selectively being applied.
Two lawmakers have also been involved in cases of influence peddling and using inside information. These lawmakers, supposedly the people's representatives, instead ripped them off.
In 2015, Rep. Seo Young-kyu of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea allegedly asked a high-ranking court official for a favor ― give a lighter sentence to a friend's son, charged with a sexual offense. Seo belonged to the National Assembly's judiciary committee, a position that carried great influence in the court. Aggravating her case was that at the time the court was under the control of Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae, who faces allegations of being subservient to now-impeached former President Park Geun-hye.
The son of Seo's friend got away with a fine, a light sentence indeed. So this makes Seo an elected broker, who helps her friends and relatives instead of her constituents. What about us, the source from where all power derives?
Rep. Sohn Hye-won, the ruling party's member of the National Assembly's culture, sports and tourism committee, was found to have bought a dozen of houses in a Mokpo strip just before it was designated a special culture area. Because of her position on the committee, she was in a position to know in advance what was going to happen and to influence which properties would be designated.
Once designated, the owners of these properties would receive many benefits. Sohn makes us look like …patsies.
Do all these cases, when combined, show we are a nation in crisis or is this an illusion? Surely many ordinary people are doing their best to live decent, honest lives?
No wonder they feel depressed and angry ― and looking at these cases only reinforces ordinary citizens' sense of frustration because our nation is rudderless and adrift without a moral compass. And that is dangerous.
Oh Young-jin (foolsdie5@koreatimes.co.kr, foolsdie@gmail.com) is digital managing editor of The Korea Times.
