Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| National Assembly lawmakers pass the amendment to better protect athletes from violence, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Jung Min-ho
The National Assembly has passed an amendment to better protect athletes from abuse and violence, several weeks after the tragic death of promising triathlete Choi Suk-hyeon.
Under the revised National Sports Promotion Act, sports organization members are required to report violations of athletes' human rights, including physical and sexual abuse, to the Sports Ethics Center. It is in charge of separating the alleged perpetrator and the victim to ensure a fair investigation.
If convicted, the perpetrator could be suspended from sport for up to five years. Before the revision, the maximum suspension period was only a year.
Choi, 22, a junior bronze medalist at the 2015 Triathlon Asian Championships and an athlete in the Gyeongju City Hall team, committed suicide on June 26 after seeking punishment for her head coach Kim Gyu-bong and team doctor Ahn Ju-hyeon, whom she had accused of years of physical and mental abuse.
In her last text message to her mother, Choi asked her to "expose the crimes of the people," in an apparent reference to Kim and Ahn ― and possibly more people. An investigation into the case is ongoing.
Previously, one of the law's purposes was "raising the national prestige through sports," which has now been deleted. The new purposes are "enhancing solidarity through sports and protecting the human rights of athletes through fair sportsmanship," among others.
Lee Yong, an athlete-turned-lawmaker of the main opposition United Future Party, who led the revision effort, told the Hankook Ilbo, sister paper of The Korea Times, that he was glad to see the successful result and felt a great responsibility to eradicate sports violence.
