A Seoul court docket on Tuesday granted an injunction sought by determine skater Lee Hae-in to pause a three-year ban issued by the nationwide skating federation over sexual harassment expenses.
The Seoul Jap District Court docket sided with Lee, who’s now eligible to compete.
Lee, the 2023 world silver medalist, was suspended for 3 years by the Korea Skating Union (KSU) in June, with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) confirming it two months later, over an incident that occurred throughout a nationwide staff coaching camp in Italy in Might.
Lee, 19, was accused of sexually harassing an underage male teammate. However she countered that there couldn’t be any grounds for sexual harassment as a result of she and the teammate, whose identification has been withheld, have been in a romantic relationship. Lee additionally claimed that the KSU had deemed bodily contact between the skaters to be abusive in nature as a result of it hadn’t been conscious of Lee’s relationship standing.
The KSOC rejected Lee’s enchantment, citing the age of Lee’s boyfriend and different circumstances.
Lee then took the matter to the Seoul court docket, which dominated on Tuesday that her motion with the male skater didn’t represent sexual harassment, although he was underneath 16 years of age on the time.
“By definition, sexual harassment causes a way of sexual humiliation and revulsion, and infringes on the sufferer’s sexual freedom,” the court docket mentioned. “Simply because an grownup carried out an act of affection towards somebody underneath the age of 16, it doesn’t suggest such an act could be considered harassment.”
Lee thanked the court docket for its ruling and her followers for his or her assist.
“I deeply remorse my inappropriate conduct as an athlete representing the nation,” Lee mentioned. “Now that I have been given one final probability, I’ll be sure one thing like this does not ever occur once more and I’ll concentrate on my coaching.”
Lee plans to enter a nationwide competitors scheduled to start Nov. 28.
Lee gained silver within the girls’s singles on the 2023 world championships, turning into the primary South Korean lady to seize a world championship medal since Kim Yu-na gained gold in 2013. Additionally in 2023, Lee gained the ladies’s singles title on the 4 Continents Determine Skating Championships, making her the primary South Korean champion since Kim in 2009. (Yonhap)
