'Sim Seok-hee KakaoTalk Leak Investigation'... Police Conduct Search and Seizure at Jo Jae-beom's Sister's Residence

Athlete Shim Seok-hee and former coach Jo Jae-beom. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] The police conducted a search and seizure at the residence of the family of former coach Jo Jae-beom to investigate the leak of KakaoTalk messages exchanged between short track national team athlete Shim Seok-hee and Coach A during the Pyeongchang Olympics.

On the 26th, the Women and Youth Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency reportedly searched the home of Jo’s sister, located in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, in connection with the investigation into whether Shim’s honor was defamed, securing laptops and USB drives.

A police official stated, "Although no formal complaints or accusations have been filed regarding this matter, we have independently launched an investigation into the allegations of defamation against Shim. During the process of identifying how the text messages were leaked and reported, we pinpointed the IP address of the residence of Jo’s sister and her husband and conducted the search and seizure."

In response, Jo’s father, Mr. Jo, told Channel A in a phone interview, "After filing a petition with the Korea Sports Council and the Skating Federation in July, we reported the matter to a media outlet in mid-August. The media outlet that first reported the story requested the materials in early September."

He added, "We filed the petition and report to correct what happened in a public place, but if searches like this continue, who would dare to be a whistleblower?" he criticized.

In the women's 1000m short track final at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, athletes Shim Seok-hee and Choi Min-jung collided and fell.
Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, on the 8th, Dispatch revealed KakaoTalk conversations between athlete Shim and Coach A, which contained derogatory remarks mixed with profanity directed at athletes Kim Ah-rang and Choi Min-jung.

In particular, with the release of these conversations, Shim faced allegations that she may have deliberately collided with her teammate Choi during the women’s 1000m final at the Pyeongchang Olympics to prevent Choi from winning the gold medal.

The Korea Skating Union plans to hold the first meeting of the investigation committee on the 27th to decide the subjects and scope of the investigation regarding the 'deliberate collision' allegations.

Meanwhile, the Suwon High Court overturned the original sentence of 10 years and 6 months imprisonment and sentenced former coach Jo to 13 years in prison at the appeal trial last month. Jo was charged with sexually assaulting or forcibly molesting Shim 30 times between August 2014 and December 2017 at seven locations including Taereung and Jincheon training centers and the Korea National Sport University skating rink.