Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education "Severe Disciplinary Action Even for Simple Verbal Abuse by Sports Team Coaches"

'Presentation on Future Innovation Plans for Seoul School Sports Teams'
Immediate Suspension of Leaders Involved in Sexual or Physical Violence
Immediate Separation Measures for Perpetrating Students
Restriction of Competition Opportunities for Student Athletes Below Minimum Academic Standards

The coach and senior athletes of the Gyeongju City Triathlon Team appeared on the 6th at the National Assembly for an urgent inquiry regarding the late athlete Choi Sook-hyun's death case, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] In Seoul, if a coach of an elementary, middle, or high school sports team violates the human rights of student athletes through sexual violence or physical abuse, they will be immediately suspended from duty, and even simple verbal abuse will result in severe disciplinary action.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 14th that it has prepared the "Future Innovation Plan for Seoul School Sports Teams" centered on these measures.

The innovation plan was developed by gathering opinions from school sports experts and related parties following last year's recommendations from the Sports Innovation Committee for the normalization of school sports teams. The key tasks include ▲ enhancing the human rights of student athletes ▲ guaranteeing the learning rights of student athletes ▲ strengthening the accountability of school sports team coaches ▲ transparent and fair operation of school sports teams ▲ developing a Seoul-type school sports team operation model.

Specifically, if a human rights violation occurs within a school sports team, the guardians will be immediately notified of the incident. If the perpetrator is a school sports team coach, they will be suspended from duty. Apart from investigations by law enforcement agencies, complaints to the National Human Rights Commission, and disciplinary actions by sports associations, the school will also handle the matter according to disciplinary regulations. The disciplinary standards for school sports team coaches will be strengthened to allow severe punishment even for simple verbal abuse. In the case of a perpetrating student, immediate separation from the victim student will be enforced, and measures will be taken according to the Act on the Prevention of and Countermeasures against School Violence.

Going forward, human rights education and surveys will be conducted regularly, and a permanent reporting center along with focused reporting periods will be operated. One weekday will be designated as a no-training day, and training time guidelines will be established to guarantee the rest rights of student athletes.

Additionally, to eradicate the habitual culture of forcing sports participation at the expense of learning rights, student athletes who fail to meet the minimum academic standards will be restricted from participating in competitions in the following semester. Furthermore, if issues such as illegal sponsorship funds or sexual violence arise, a one-strike-out policy will be applied depending on the severity.

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Education for Seoul, stated, "We will do our best to implement the innovation plan, and in the process, we plan to fully collect and reflect the opinions of stakeholders including student athletes, parents, coaches, school administrators, and sports associations to enhance the effectiveness of the policy."