Police seek arrest warrant for ex-short track coach over multiple assault charges

SUWON, South Korea, June 20 (Yonhap) -- Police said Wednesday they are seeking an arrest warrant for a former South Korean national short track speed skating coach accused of assaulting multiple athletes.

Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, said they applied for the warrant for Cho Jae-beom, who was grilled for nearly eight hours on Monday over allegations that he'd struck Olympic skater Shim Suk-hee on multiple occasions.

Cho admitted the charges, and police learned that the coach had assaulted three other skaters between 2011 and January 2018. Of the four alleged victims, three are female athletes, police said. They added that Cho said he had hit the skaters as punishment for disobedience and that he was trying to improve their on-ice performance.

Cho's apparent assault of Shim came to light in mid-January, just weeks before the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, when Shim left the national team training facility, apparently to avoid further assaults by Cho.

Cho received a lifetime ban from the Korea Skating Union (KSU) later that month. After the Olympics, the sports ministry conducted an independent probe into the case. It concluded on May 23 that Cho's alleged assault was more serious than first reported, and asked the police to further investigate the matter.

Then on May 27, Gyeonggi police said Shim had testified to having been struck by Cho on two previous occasions, including one in 2017.

Shim, 21, is a two-time Olympian with two gold, one silver and one bronze medals to her credit. Skating just weeks after the apparent assault, Shim helped South Korea to the gold in the women's 3,000-meter relay. It was her second consecutive gold in the relay event.

Police said they have also spoken to the three other skaters and added they will continue to look into whether there are any other victims.

In early May, Chinese media reported that Cho had joined the Chinese national short track team. Cho returned to South Korea on June 7.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
(END)