[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The police, who had sent the case to the prosecution with a non-prosecution opinion regarding allegations of assault by a Seoul ice hockey team coach, have launched a reinvestigation after more than a year.
According to the police on the 9th, the Violent Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency plans to thoroughly reinvestigate the case in which Coach A of a high school ice hockey team in Songpa-gu assaulted players in 2019.
Initially, the Songpa Police Station began an investigation in February last year following a request from the school, but sent Coach A to the prosecution with a non-prosecution opinion. The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, which took over the case, also closed it in March of the same year without indicting. This was because some senior players testified that they had asked to be hit "to improve the team atmosphere." Under criminal law, assault with the "victim's consent" is considered a justification that negates illegality, meaning no crime is established.
However, as some media outlets released additional footage showing Coach A hitting students with hockey sticks in the ice rink locker room, the police plan to reinvestigate the case.
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