By Jung Min-ho
Korea’s 2012 London Paralympic chief delegate said Thursday that the Korea Sports Association for the Disabled will not condone violence, referring to a recent controversy over a Paralympic athlete who accused his coach of physical abuse.
“The allegation is now under investigation,” Jang Choon-bae said during an interview. “We do not know what really happened yet. However, if the accusation turns out to be true, we will take the strongest disciplinary action possible.”
Last week, Ji Kwang-min, captain of the national Boccia team, alleged Kim Jin-han abused him during the Paralympics as well as before the event, saying the coach also took money from him for training sessions.
Jang said the degree of violence may not have been extreme as Ji and Kim have known each other as teacher and student since the Boccia player was in high school, but it still cannot be tolerated, noting the pair looked friendly in London.
“Maybe the bad result at the Paralympics was the cause of the problem,” said the 57-year-old. “No matter what, we will not condone violence and proper action will be taken based on the facts after the probe.”
Team Korea saw 88 athletes participate in 13 sports of the 20 in total at the Paralympics and finished 12th with nine golds, nine silvers and nine bronzes. Jang said the event was a success but more improvements are needed to make a leap forward in sports for disabled athletes.
“Although we didn’t earn 13 gold medals as planned, I’m satisfied with the achievements the athletes made in London. If you think about the fact that 164 countries competed there, the result is really impressive,” Jang said. “But the sustainability of the team’s performance and further development seem hard without more systematic support.”
Most disabled athletes have to work to make ends meet as the country has only 20 professional teams. Hence, they cannot concentrate on their events even before major competitions like the Paralympics due to financial difficulties, Jang said.
“The ideal way to create a sports-friendly environment for the disabled is to make existing facilities more accessible for them, instead of building new ones,” Jang said. “It will lift the overall quality of their lives. At the same time, the advanced environment will solve other issues like discovering new talent as more people will engage in sports.”
Jang is a former national team table tennis player. Attending three consecutive Paralympics from L.A. 1984, he won a total of three silvers. Looking back, Jang said, the environment for disabled athletes has improved greatly over the three decades, but “we still have much to develop.”
“Since the Beijing Games, Paralympic medalists were given the same financial reward from the government as those from the Olympics, which I think is a big achievement for our society,” Jang said. “However, the current financial situation of relying almost 100 percent on government subsidies shows the limitations for further enhancement without sponsors from other sources.”