'Humiliation': Japanese President's "Chosenjin" Slurs and Anti-Korean Remarks Draw No Response from Korea... Korean Bobsleigh Federation's 'Absurd Inaction'

*This content was translated by AI.

As it emerged that a top figure in Japanese winter sports made racist slurs against Koreans on an official stage, causing widespread outrage, the perpetrator eventually stepped down from all positions and bowed his head. However, the affiliated organization in the victim country, South Korea, consistently adopted a lukewarm stance from the early stages of the incident, inviting criticism.

Japanese media outlet 'Slow News' released audio recordings of Kitano Takahiro, former president of the Japanese Bobsleigh, Luge, and Skeleton Federation, on the 11th. According to the recordings, Gi Ta-no (Chairman) used discriminatory profanity during a federation board meeting, stating, "Even a fool or a Chosenjin (Choo) can do things like reporting results and analyzing them." Here, 'Choo' is a representative term used to demean Koreans and constitutes a strictly prohibited act of racial discrimination under the Olympic Charter.

Gi Ta-no (Chairman) was a top figure in the Japanese sports world who also served as vice president of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC). In particular, he visited the 2018 PyeongChang Memorial Foundation last month to discuss the utilization of the PyeongChang Sliding Center and expanding cooperation, consistently emphasizing friendship with Korea in public.

According to testimony from officials of the Japanese federation, he openly displayed the prejudice that "Korea cannot be trusted" and had been ignoring cooperation proposals from the Korean side. His double-faced behavior, smiling and shaking hands on the surface while spewing hateful remarks behind the scenes, has now been exposed to the world.

As the severity of the situation spread into international controversy, Gi Ta-no (Chairman) abruptly resigned from his positions as vice president of the JOC and president of the Japanese Yeon Maeng (Chairman) on the afternoon of the 12th. This was a result of acknowledging that his own remarks constituted a serious disqualifying offense requiring his resignation. The gravity of the matter was so great that the head of the organization took the drastic step of stepping down in disgrace to manage the situation.

However, in this situation, the response of the Korean Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation was utterly powerless. On the 12th, before Gi Ta-no (Chairman) resigned, the federation told StarNews that it had received an apology letter from the Japanese side regarding the incident, but also stated that it had "no plans for any additional official statement." Despite the perpetrator making such outrageous remarks that he had to resign, the domestic federation attempted to remain completely non-responsive without even lodging a protest.

Through the Japanese federation's apology letter, they attempted to evade responsibility by using the abstract term "inappropriate expression" without explicitly admitting to the specific discriminatory remarks. While the head of the offending party stepped down to take responsibility for the situation, the Korean federation chose silence, accepting the apology and displaying an absurd course of action.

In contrast, the 2018 PyeongChang Memorial Foundation stated in a phone call with this newspaper, "We judge this as an inappropriate perception in a global era where mutual respect is important," and added, "The foundation will continue to lead the way in spreading forward-looking and positive influence so that future generations can have a broader perspective," expressing concern.

Even though Gi Ta-no (Chairman) could not maintain his position amid international racial discrimination controversy and resigned, the passive response of the Korean federation, which hid behind the answer "no plan," is pointed out as an even bigger problem. The complacency of the Korean federation, which took no official action even after hearing slurs severe enough for the president to resign, is inflicting an unforgettable sense of humiliation on Korean sports fans.

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*This content was translated by AI.