Ministry of Culture Requests Investigation into Badminton Association President... Demands Dismissal Disciplinary Action

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has decided to request a police investigation regarding the so-called 'payback' allegations involving Kim Taek-gyu, president of the Badminton Association.

On the 31st, the Ministry held a briefing at the annex of the Government Seoul Office on the results of the audit of the Badminton Association's office and the inspection of the subsidy project execution. They also announced follow-up measures related to the operation and support of the national team, association administration, and subsidy execution.

Last year, the association received sponsorship goods worth approximately 150 million KRW through verbal contracts during the purchase of shuttlecocks and other items under a government-supported project. This year, they entered into a written contract to receive goods worth 140 million KRW. According to the Ministry, these sponsored goods were distributed arbitrarily to local areas without official procedures.

The Ministry stated, "We will request an investigation from the Seoul Songpa Police Station, which has received a complaint against the president on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust," and also demanded the dismissal of the president and severe disciplinary action against the office director from the association's Sports Fairness Committee.

As a follow-up measure for violations of the Subsidy Act, the Ministry ordered the return of 150 million KRW from the previous year and imposed a penalty surcharge of 450 million KRW. The return amount for this year will be finalized after project settlement.

Lee Jung-woo, Director of the Sports Bureau at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is announcing the results of the investigation by the Korea Badminton Association on the 31st at the Government Seoul Office Annex in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Photo by Yonhap News

Additionally, the Ministry revealed that President Kim used abusive language and excessive protocol instructions during an internal workshop, stating, "This constitutes workplace harassment. We will report this to the Seoul Eastern Employment and Labor Office."

Moreover, the Ministry said the association has signed private contracts worth a total of 2.61 billion KRW with sponsors since the year before last, and plans to take measures including disciplinary action against staff, return of violation amounts, and imposition of penalty surcharges.

Regarding 16 million KRW paid to an accounting firm where the association's auditor serves as CEO, the Ministry announced, "We will recover 8.25 million KRW paid after the implementation of the transaction prohibition regulation and impose penalty surcharges."

They also confirmed that withholding tax was not deducted on the 17.85 million KRW meeting attendance fees received by the association's executive director and reported this to the tax authorities. Incentives amounting to 68 million KRW and holiday bonuses of 1.5 million KRW, which some executives received under the pretext of sponsorship recruitment, were reclaimed by the association.

The Ministry also announced improvement plans related to issues raised by An Se-young (22), the 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalist, immediately after winning the Olympic gold medal concerning the association and national team operations.

Out of 51 national team athletes, 36 responded to the Ministry's investigation. Based on this, the Ministry announced plans to increase the national team coaching staff from 13 to 20 to provide tailored training suited to singles and doubles characteristics.

Unlike before, separate head coaches for singles and doubles will be appointed under the general director, with 10 coaches, 6 trainers, and 1 video team member assigned.

The Ministry stated, "We will respect athletes' choices regarding injury diagnosis and treatment, activate the association's mandatory committee to strengthen advisory functions such as cross-verification during injury diagnosis," and promised to expand infrastructure including medical spaces and personnel. Regarding personal trainers, which were effectively prohibited, they said, "We will expand the system revised by the Korea Football Association after the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup to other sports."

The Football Association grants personal trainer qualifications only to those holding certifications as physical therapists, health exercise managers, or player trainers, and employs them part-time during national team convocations.

Furthermore, the Ministry decided to generally allow national team players staying at the Chungbuk Jincheon National Training Center to go out or stay overnight on weekends and holidays, and announced plans to conduct regular monitoring from next year regarding unfair practices such as cleaning and laundry.

Regarding regulations restricting national team athletes from self-funded participation in international competitions, the Ministry demanded correction, stating, "Other Olympic and Asian Games sports do not separately restrict national team athletes from self-funded participation in international competitions or overseas leagues and invitation matches."

They issued corrective orders concerning the abolition of regulations restricting non-national team members from participating in international competitions and respecting athletes' decision rights on performance-related equipment, which had already been requested in last month's interim briefing.

Regarding the method of selecting doubles national team players based on 70% performance and 30% evaluation scores, the Ministry said, "To minimize the problem of luck playing a large role, the 'priority selection' range should be expanded to world ranking 32, and separate selection for national team players under 23 years old and expansion of the overall national team should be considered."

On regulations limiting contract periods, signing bonuses, and salaries for rookie professional players, the Ministry said, "We are working on improvements with the Professional Federation."

Respecting athletes' choices in injury diagnosis and treatment, autonomy in early morning and mountain training, allowing outings and overnight stays on weekends and holidays, revising the personal trainer system, granting rest before national team convocations, and providing coaches opportunities to submit opinions on athlete-related decisions by the association are expected to be expanded to all sports through revisions to the Korea Sports Council's enhanced training operation guidelines.