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| A grim-faced Jeon Myung-gyu, former vice chairman of the Korean Skating Union, lowers his head during a news conference at the Olympic Parktel hotel in southern Seoul, Monday, while speaking about his position regarding the allegation he masterminded the cover-ups of sexual assaults on athletes. He met reporters hours after an association of former skaters alleged in a news conference that Jeon is responsible for covering up repeated sexual abuse cases. / Yonhap |
Activists claim cronyism in sports is a source of problems
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Jeon Myung-gyu, former vice chairman of the Korea Skating Union who is accused of having covered up repeated sexual assaults in sports, denied the allegations made against him and claimed he was being victimized by groundless accusations.
He claimed he didn't know short track speed skater Shim Suk-hee had been sexually and physically abused by her coach Cho Jae-bum.
"I was not in a position to know about that. I was not aware that Cho did the wrong things to Shim and I also didn't know that he physically assaulted her at the same time," Jeon said during a news conference at the Olympic Parktel in southern Seoul, Monday.
"Shim had trained under Cho from a young age. Since she entered Korea National Sports University, she was trained at the Jincheon Training Center which is far from the university. There was no way I could have been informed of Cho's misconduct."
Jeon, also a KNSU professor, however, said he didn't mean to shirk responsibility as a former skating union executive.
"I am sorry for Shim Suk-hee for the traumatic experiences she endured," he said. "I also offer my deepest apologies to the public for being unable to prevent such tragic cases."
Jeon met reporters hours after a group of former skaters pinpointed him as the key figure who masterminded the cover-up of an endemic sexual assault problem in sports and was also involved in several illicit activities when he served as KSU vice chairman.
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| An activist pinpoints Jeon as the key figure who masterminded the cover-up of an endemic sexual assault problem in sports and was also involved in several illicit activities when he served as KSU vice chairman./ Yonhap |
During a separate news conference at the National Assembly, they alleged that prior to the PyeongChang Olympics, Jeon persuaded Shim Suk-hee, who then was going to disclose Cho's sexual misconduct, not to go through with it.
The activists alleged that cronyism is a source of the problem.
According to them, there have been several other sexual assault cases in skating but the cases were not made public because the offenders were Jeon's cronies.
The activists portrayed Jeon as a source of corruption and irregularity in sports, demanding a thorough investigation of him and those involved in the cases. They also demanded a leadership reshuffle of the Korea Sports & Olympic Committee, including President Lee Kee-heung, claiming he and Jeon colluded one way or another to cover up sexual misconduct cases.
Jeon said he didn't pressurize Shim to scrap her plan to disclose what Cho did to her, adding that he encouraged her to delay the plan to disclose her suffering so she could focus fully on the Olympics.
His name has surfaced repeatedly whenever the KSU made headlines in various types of misconduct and irregularities.
