Previously suspended coach appointed to helm Korea's short-track team ahead of Olympics

작성일 09-03

<div class="ab_photo photo_center "> <div class="image"> <img src="https://imgnews.pstatic.net/image/640/2025/09/03/0000076095_001_20250903132215904.jpg" alt="" />Kim Sun-tae, left, head coach of the Chinese short-track team, and Viktor Ahn, right, technical coach, celebrate with their athletes after winning the mixed team relay final at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Feb. 5, 2022. [YONHAP] </div> </div> Short-track speedskating, long considered Korea’s most reliable gold mine in the Winter Olympics with 26 gold medals to date, is once again mired in controversy. Just six months before the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Korea Skating Union (KSU) replaced the head coach of the national short-track team. The union appointed Kim Sun-tae, 49, a KSU executive and head coach of the Seongnam City Hall team, as interim head coach. Kim led Team Korea to three gold medals at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. However, he was handed a one-year suspension for filing a false report and covering up the assault scandal involving former coach Cho Jae-beom. According to conservative People Power Party Rep. Jin Jong-oh, a member of the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, the KSU defended the appointment by saying that the disciplinary action was primarily for negligence, not for direct involvement in the assault. The union argued there were no legal issues with the appointment. However, Article 10, Paragraph 11 of the national team regulations states that any individual who has been suspended for causing social controversy is ineligible to serve as a national team coach. The previous head coach, Yoon Jae-myung, and another coach were disciplined in May for misuse of public funds, receiving one- and three-month suspensions respectively. The KSU cited four meals costing about 200,000 won ($143.50) as the basis for the penalties. Yoon was later cleared in an appeal by the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee. Nevertheless, the KSU reassigned him, citing poor performance and inadequate team management. <div class="ab_photo photo_center "> <div class="image"> <img src="https://imgnews.pstatic.net/image/640/2025/09/03/0000076095_002_20250903132215988.jpg" alt="" />Viktor Ahn, technical coach of the Chinese short-track team, gives instructions during an official training session for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Feb. 3, 2022. [YONHAP] </div> </div> Kim previously coached the Chinese short-track team at the 2022 Beijing Olympics alongside Viktor Ahn &#8212; Korean name Ahn Hyun-soo &#8212; a naturalized Russian citizen. During the Games, Kim remained silent on controversial calls that disadvantaged Korea and drew public outrage for celebrating China's gold medal win over Korea. Kim and the KSU are reportedly considering appointing Ahn as a coach for the national team. The KSU explained that two of its four coaching slots are currently tied up in legal disputes, and it plans to fill vacancies as needed. Rep. Jin, a former Olympic gold medalist himself, expressed serious concerns about the leadership changes, calling it “absurd” to remove Yoon over alleged negligence only to replace him with someone previously suspended for the same reason. “If Viktor Ahn, who competed with Russia and China, is actually appointed to the Korean national team, it will be difficult to gain public support,” said Jin. “In international competitions, procedural legitimacy and fairness are just as important as results.” An anonymous figure in the skating community suggested that a so-called "godfather of short track" &#8212; a power broker influential during the formation of the current KSU leadership &#8212; is behind the latest decisions. The KSU defended the appointment by noting that four of Korea’s top medal hopefuls, including Choi Min-jeong and Kim Gil-li, are members of the Seongnam City Hall team, adding that hiring Kim was intended to minimize disruptions and maximize performance. “If there are irregularities, they will be addressed during the upcoming parliamentary audit,” said Jin. This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

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Previously suspended coach appointed to helm Korea's short-track team ahead of Olympics

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