Lim Hyo-jun, who won South Korea's first gold medal in the men's 1,500m short track at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Hana Na] Im Hyo-jun (25), the gold medalist in short track before the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, has chosen to naturalize as a Chinese citizen and will continue his athletic career on the Chinese short track team.
On the 6th, a representative of Im Hyo-jun told Yonhap News by phone, "Im Hyo-jun has accepted the proposal from the Chinese Skating Association and is undergoing the special naturalization process in China," adding, "He will compete for the Chinese national team at the 2022 Beijing Olympics."
They continued, "Im Hyo-jun judged that there was a possibility he would not be able to join the Korean national team due to disciplinary issues," and "Desperately wanting to compete on the Olympic stage, he made the difficult decision to move to China."
Im Hyo-jun won the men's 1,500m gold medal and men's 500m bronze medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Afterwards, as the ace of the short track national team, Im Hyo-jun was charged in June 2019 with forcible molestation for pulling down a teammate's pants and exposing body parts during physical training at the Jincheon National Training Center's weight training facility.
In response, the Korea Skating Union imposed a one-year suspension on Im Hyo-jun in August 2019. Im filed for a retrial with the Korea Sports Fairness Committee, but it was dismissed, confirming the disciplinary action.
With all activities suspended and no team affiliation, Im Hyo-jun filed a lawsuit in March 2019 against the Korea Skating Union to nullify the disciplinary action, and in November of the same year, he was acquitted in the appellate trial related to the forcible molestation charge.
At that time, the appellate court overturned the previous ruling, stating, "It is difficult to view the defendant's act of pulling down the shorts as an act intended to cause sexual shame or disgust, separate from the prank attempted by the victim (A) on a fellow athlete and the fellow athlete's reaction to it."
The court explained the situation: "The victim (Athlete A) punched a female athlete on a climbing apparatus in the buttocks, causing her to fall, and the female athlete responded to the prank. Afterwards, when the victim climbed the climbing apparatus, the defendant pulled down the shorts."
Im Hyo-jun is currently awaiting a Supreme Court ruling.
A representative explained the background of Im Hyo-jun's naturalization, saying, "Although he was acquitted in the appellate trial, if the Supreme Court overturns the decision, the disciplinary action will resume from that point, and he will not be able to participate in the Beijing Olympics."
With Im Hyo-jun's naturalization, the Chinese short track team has emerged as Korea's biggest rival.
Kim Sun-tae, who was the head coach of the Korean team at the Pyeongchang Olympics, is currently the head coach of the Chinese short track team, and Viktor An (Korean name Ahn Hyun-soo, Russian), a legend of Korean short track, also joined last year as a coach.
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