Director Son Woong-jung's 'Child Abuse Controversy' Civic Group Discussion "The Essence is Violence"

Director Son Woong-jung's 'Child Abuse Controversy' Civic Group Discussion "The Essence is Violence"

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Civic groups held a discussion on the child abuse controversy that occurred at the 'SON Soccer Academy' run by Son

Heung-min (Tottenham)'s father, coach Son Woong-jung, and unanimously agreed that 'the essence is the violence of the

leaders.'

The Cultural Solidarity, the Culture, Arts and Sports Committee of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society, the Sports

Human Rights Research Institute, and the Sports Citizens' Coalition emphasized at a discussion held at Space M in Mapo-

gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 4th that the "violence" of coaches including Coach Son should be identified as the most

critical factor in this incident.

Jeong Hee-jun, an executive member of the Cultural Solidarity, said, "The settlement amount is a secondary issue; the

essence and origin is violence," and added, "If the parents of the victimized children have legal issues, that is their

responsibility to handle. What's important is that Coach Son and his coaching staff inflicted continuous, organized,

physical, and emotional violence on the children."

Commissioner Jeong strongly criticized, saying, "They say there was no action that was not based on love, so how can they

say 'I hit him because I love him'? They even told him not to hit them with flowers." He added, "In Europe or the US, this

would be a situation where he would be immediately kicked out of the sports world and face legal responsibility."

While saying, "He emphasized the agreement by saying, 'I told the parents, 'I will teach the children the way I taught them,

no more, no less,' but did he reveal in advance that he and his coaching staff would systematically commit verbal and

physical abuse?" he added, "If he did, I would agree, but it seems like he doesn't. No parent would agree."

On the 2nd, Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office summoned and questioned three people, including Coach Son, Head

Coach Son Heung-yoon, and Coach A, who are suspected of child abuse under the Child Welfare Act the previous day.

Coach Son and others are suspected of physically and emotionally abusing child B.

The academy proposed three conditions for the settlement: a request for exemption from punishment, a ban on reporting

to the media, and a ban on requesting disciplinary action from the Football Association. However, the parents of the

victimized child refused to settle. As it became known that they had demanded a settlement amount of hundreds of

millions of won, public opinion began to criticize the parents.

Kim Hyun-soo, executive director of the Citizens' Coalition for Sports, also said, "It seems that the essence of the incident

is buried in the fact that the parents demanded a large sum of money during the process of reaching an agreement," and

claimed that this incident exposed the structural weaknesses of 'out-of-school sports clubs' with poor management and

supervision.

Chairman Kim said, "The reality is that there are insufficient institutional measures for private clubs outside of schools

such as the SON Soccer Academy. It is a blind spot," and pointed out that "there is an absence of management and

supervision as they are outside the jurisdiction of the Ministry 스포츠토토존 of Education."

He added, "Recently in the sports world, sports and sexual violence prevention education has been provided so much that

on-site coaches are feeling extremely tired. I wonder how much of this education Coach Son and others have received."

Attorney Kim Jong-woo of the Sports Human Rights Team of the Culture, Arts, and Sports Committee of the People's

Solidarity for Participatory Democracy said, "They say there is no action that is not based on love, but isn't 'love whip' child

abuse? Even if there is child abuse if the person or the parents consent, isn't it a violation of the Child Welfare Act? There

are questions like these, but it is still considered abuse."

Commissioner Jeong, who was the presenter that day, particularly criticized Coach Son, calling him an “incompetent

leader.” He claimed, “I don’t know what kind of qualifications (Coach Son) has. He just continues to be in charge of the

youth team,” and “His skills and abilities as a leader have not been proven.”

He criticized, "There is nothing proven other than the fact that he raised his son well and is doing well in his professional

career in Germany and England after going through the Hamburg youth team," and "There is a lot of talk that you have to

get hit to become a great player, but for that to be proven, our players, who get hit the most in the world, would have to win

first place at the Olympics and achieve three consecutive World Cup wins."

In a statement sent to Yonhap News on the 26th of last month, Director Son stated, "I swear that the Academy leaders

have never said or done anything that was not based on love for the children," and "I will reflect on the fact that I have

failed to keep up with the changing times and the standards set forth in the law and have only guided the children in my

own way."

However, he explained, "Since there are many parts of the plaintiff's claims that are different from the truth, the Academy

is actively cooperating with the investigation by revealing the facts without distorting or hiding them and without adding

or subtracting anything."