President Yoo of the Korea Sports and Olympic Council, who is trampling on the educational rights of student athletes, must wake up.
This issue must be addressed clearly. All student athletes are students before they are athletes. Students are children, and children must not be deprived of educational opportunities by anyone, including the state or society. Even if only a small number of students are deprived of these opportunities, it constitutes child abuse and a violation of their right to education.
Yoo Seung-min, bearing the grave responsibility of serving as President of the Korea Sports and Olympic Council, held a meeting on the 24th in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, where the National Youth Sports Festival was being held, with parents of student athletes. At the meeting, he condemned the minimum safeguards designed to protect student athletes’ right to education—such as minimum academic achievement requirements, limits on days of excused absence, and bans on prolonged training camps—as harmful obstacles to fostering elite athletes. His remarks not only pitted sports participation against children’s educational rights, but also jeopardized opportunities for ordinary students to engage in school sports.
Neutralizing the Minimum Academic Achievement System
Beginning in 2006, the National Assembly deliberated for nearly 20 years to correct outdated practices in school sports programs that excessively prioritized athletic performance and hindered the balanced development of children. To prevent students from abandoning their studies, the Minimum Academic Achievement System was established under the School Sports Promotion Act. However, just before its implementation, the system was effectively dismantled due to collusion between certain irresponsible parents, coaches, and lawmakers. Their demands clearly aimed to neglect academic responsibilities by relying on e-learning, an ineffective substitute for real education. As a result, the weakening of this system has harmed even sincere student athletes who strive to balance both academics and sport.
Recognized Absence Days Violate the Constitutional Right to Education
The constitutional right to education ensures that all citizens are guaranteed educational opportunities, while compulsory education ensures that every child can grow into a democratic citizen. The Framework Act on Education mandates nine years of compulsory education—six years of elementary school and three years of middle school—during which all children are expected to pursue their dreams based on essential foundational learning.
Despite this, the Ministry of Education has maintained an exceptionally unconstitutional policy that allows absences to be counted as attendance even during compulsory education. In 2020, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommended that the Minister of Education abolish recognized absences for elementary and middle school students as soon as possible, declaring the policy a violation of students’ right to education.
In practice, this system should only be applied in truly unavoidable circumstances. However, due to persistent demands from uninformed teachers and parents, absences are now perceived as an entitlement, leading to needless conflict with school administrators over attendance recognition. Frequent absences disrupt learning continuity and make it increasingly difficult for students to keep up academically. Nevertheless, Yoo Seung-min openly revealed his unconstitutional stance by suggesting that sports clubs should allow even more absences, further accelerating the trend of children distancing themselves from school sports.
The Return of Inhumane Training Camps?!
Yoo Seung-min’s declaration of reviving training camps at this meeting reflects a mindset befitting a former “exceptional” athlete stuck in the past. The reality of these training camps is grim: student athletes suffocating under 24-hour surveillance, coaches burdened with managing every aspect of their lives, children who return home only once every three or four months, children isolated in so-called “training islands” with no exposure to broader society, and children suffering human rights violations under dormitory cultures of obedience and constant monitoring. Training camps are a shameful self-portrait of Korea’s past in sports—a relic of outdated coaches who lacked expertise and relied only on endless training time, coaches who benefited from illegal operations, and authoritarian leaders who treated athletes as their property.
At the meeting, Yoo Seung-min acknowledged the widespread reality of these illegal training camps, saying, “The further you go into rural areas, the more difficult it becomes. You can’t just change your address, and if you use any illegal means, you’ll get caught. We can’t help but expose children to these illegal practices.” It is shocking that despite clearly understanding these illegal situations, he is simply attempting to “legalize illegality” by reviving the training camp system. When he served as president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, and the Sports Ethics Center requested disciplinary action for sponsorship kickbacks, Yoo similarly implied legalizing wrongdoing by promising to revise “regulations that do not reflect reality.” At this point, one cannot help but question whether his perception has already placed itself above the law.
The Real Problem of School Sports Teams Lies in Their Daily Lives
Due to a shortage of athletes, school sports have declined to the point where only national competitions remain viable. Korea ranks at the bottom among OECD countries in youth physical activity. Meanwhile, student athletes also suffer from constant stress related to their right to education. The greatest problem in their lives is the excessive training hours that make academic study nearly impossible. Overly long group training sessions force students to sleep through classes, creating academic stress, preventing balanced development, and depriving them of opportunities for independent and individualized training. This is a serious issue.
Statements made at the meeting are particularly concerning because they fail to identify the true cause of excessive training hours and instead incorrectly blame educational rights policies. Issues such as transfers to specialized vocational schools due to poor learning conditions, the stagnation of school sports teams, reliance on private sports instruction, and avoidance of school-based sports programs all stem from unnecessary and excessive training that disrupts education. These are not problems created by policies protecting educational rights.
Tears of Former Athletes
Most tragically, students who enter competitive sports too early often face lifelong regret. Countless student athletes are sacrificed to produce a handful of medal winners, only to later break down in tears over choices they were pressured to make. Many parents who today urge their children to focus solely on sports may one day feel the same regret. When the time inevitably comes to leave sports, they will finally realize how many students have been cornered by these misguided expectations.
Many former athletes, due to financial hardship, are unable to build careers utilizing their sports expertise and instead struggle in manual labor to survive. Yoo Seung-min’s rhetoric, which ignores this harsh reality, clearly reflects the arrogance of someone who succeeded under exceptional circumstances. He proudly declares, “In the past, athletes simply became coaches, but now I am engaged in diplomacy and sports administration.” Yet such outcomes would have been impossible without educational opportunity. Success stories built on rare exceptions cannot justify depriving children of education. Most former athletes who preach that “glory will come if you endure hardship like I did” demonstrate a lack of empathy and a deeply unrealistic mindset. This alone shows why he is unfit to lead the Korea Sport & Olympic Committee.
Yoo Seung-min, Answer These Questions
The era of outdated elite sports must end. How will you address the severe decline in sports infrastructure amid low birth rates? While a small number of parents demand exclusive focus on sports, how will you respond to the overwhelming majority of students who want to balance academics and their futures? What about the children who are forced to abandon sports entirely because of today’s irrational system? What will you do about Korea’s position at the very bottom of the OECD in youth physical activity?
Answer these questions as President of the Korea Sports & Olympic Committee—not as a representative of a small elite minority.
While you focus only on the narrow demands of elite sports teams, countless students are being driven away from both sports and everyday physical activity due to the artificial divide between academics and athletics. Look around you. Do you truly hear diverse voices? Reflect seriously. If you believe none of this is necessary, resign immediately. You already stand accused of the worst forms of misconduct, including national team manipulation and illegal sponsorship fund distribution.
May 25, 2025
Civic Network for Justice in Sport, Cultural Action, Sports and Human Rights Institute
President Yoo of the Korea Sports and Olympic Council, who is trampling on the educational rights of student athletes, must wake up.
This issue must be addressed clearly. All student athletes are students before they are athletes. Students are children, and children must not be deprived of educational opportunities by anyone, including the state or society. Even if only a small number of students are deprived of these opportunities, it constitutes child abuse and a violation of their right to education.
Yoo Seung-min, bearing the grave responsibility of serving as President of the Korea Sports and Olympic Council, held a meeting on the 24th in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, where the National Youth Sports Festival was being held, with parents of student athletes. At the meeting, he condemned the minimum safeguards designed to protect student athletes’ right to education—such as minimum academic achievement requirements, limits on days of excused absence, and bans on prolonged training camps—as harmful obstacles to fostering elite athletes. His remarks not only pitted sports participation against children’s educational rights, but also jeopardized opportunities for ordinary students to engage in school sports.
Neutralizing the Minimum Academic Achievement System
Beginning in 2006, the National Assembly deliberated for nearly 20 years to correct outdated practices in school sports programs that excessively prioritized athletic performance and hindered the balanced development of children. To prevent students from abandoning their studies, the Minimum Academic Achievement System was established under the School Sports Promotion Act. However, just before its implementation, the system was effectively dismantled due to collusion between certain irresponsible parents, coaches, and lawmakers. Their demands clearly aimed to neglect academic responsibilities by relying on e-learning, an ineffective substitute for real education. As a result, the weakening of this system has harmed even sincere student athletes who strive to balance both academics and sport.
Recognized Absence Days Violate the Constitutional Right to Education
The constitutional right to education ensures that all citizens are guaranteed educational opportunities, while compulsory education ensures that every child can grow into a democratic citizen. The Framework Act on Education mandates nine years of compulsory education—six years of elementary school and three years of middle school—during which all children are expected to pursue their dreams based on essential foundational learning.
Despite this, the Ministry of Education has maintained an exceptionally unconstitutional policy that allows absences to be counted as attendance even during compulsory education. In 2020, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommended that the Minister of Education abolish recognized absences for elementary and middle school students as soon as possible, declaring the policy a violation of students’ right to education.
In practice, this system should only be applied in truly unavoidable circumstances. However, due to persistent demands from uninformed teachers and parents, absences are now perceived as an entitlement, leading to needless conflict with school administrators over attendance recognition. Frequent absences disrupt learning continuity and make it increasingly difficult for students to keep up academically. Nevertheless, Yoo Seung-min openly revealed his unconstitutional stance by suggesting that sports clubs should allow even more absences, further accelerating the trend of children distancing themselves from school sports.
The Return of Inhumane Training Camps?!
Yoo Seung-min’s declaration of reviving training camps at this meeting reflects a mindset befitting a former “exceptional” athlete stuck in the past. The reality of these training camps is grim: student athletes suffocating under 24-hour surveillance, coaches burdened with managing every aspect of their lives, children who return home only once every three or four months, children isolated in so-called “training islands” with no exposure to broader society, and children suffering human rights violations under dormitory cultures of obedience and constant monitoring. Training camps are a shameful self-portrait of Korea’s past in sports—a relic of outdated coaches who lacked expertise and relied only on endless training time, coaches who benefited from illegal operations, and authoritarian leaders who treated athletes as their property.
At the meeting, Yoo Seung-min acknowledged the widespread reality of these illegal training camps, saying, “The further you go into rural areas, the more difficult it becomes. You can’t just change your address, and if you use any illegal means, you’ll get caught. We can’t help but expose children to these illegal practices.” It is shocking that despite clearly understanding these illegal situations, he is simply attempting to “legalize illegality” by reviving the training camp system. When he served as president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, and the Sports Ethics Center requested disciplinary action for sponsorship kickbacks, Yoo similarly implied legalizing wrongdoing by promising to revise “regulations that do not reflect reality.” At this point, one cannot help but question whether his perception has already placed itself above the law.
The Real Problem of School Sports Teams Lies in Their Daily Lives
Due to a shortage of athletes, school sports have declined to the point where only national competitions remain viable. Korea ranks at the bottom among OECD countries in youth physical activity. Meanwhile, student athletes also suffer from constant stress related to their right to education. The greatest problem in their lives is the excessive training hours that make academic study nearly impossible. Overly long group training sessions force students to sleep through classes, creating academic stress, preventing balanced development, and depriving them of opportunities for independent and individualized training. This is a serious issue.
Statements made at the meeting are particularly concerning because they fail to identify the true cause of excessive training hours and instead incorrectly blame educational rights policies. Issues such as transfers to specialized vocational schools due to poor learning conditions, the stagnation of school sports teams, reliance on private sports instruction, and avoidance of school-based sports programs all stem from unnecessary and excessive training that disrupts education. These are not problems created by policies protecting educational rights.
Tears of Former Athletes
Most tragically, students who enter competitive sports too early often face lifelong regret. Countless student athletes are sacrificed to produce a handful of medal winners, only to later break down in tears over choices they were pressured to make. Many parents who today urge their children to focus solely on sports may one day feel the same regret. When the time inevitably comes to leave sports, they will finally realize how many students have been cornered by these misguided expectations.
Many former athletes, due to financial hardship, are unable to build careers utilizing their sports expertise and instead struggle in manual labor to survive. Yoo Seung-min’s rhetoric, which ignores this harsh reality, clearly reflects the arrogance of someone who succeeded under exceptional circumstances. He proudly declares, “In the past, athletes simply became coaches, but now I am engaged in diplomacy and sports administration.” Yet such outcomes would have been impossible without educational opportunity. Success stories built on rare exceptions cannot justify depriving children of education. Most former athletes who preach that “glory will come if you endure hardship like I did” demonstrate a lack of empathy and a deeply unrealistic mindset. This alone shows why he is unfit to lead the Korea Sport & Olympic Committee.
Yoo Seung-min, Answer These Questions
The era of outdated elite sports must end. How will you address the severe decline in sports infrastructure amid low birth rates? While a small number of parents demand exclusive focus on sports, how will you respond to the overwhelming majority of students who want to balance academics and their futures? What about the children who are forced to abandon sports entirely because of today’s irrational system? What will you do about Korea’s position at the very bottom of the OECD in youth physical activity?
Answer these questions as President of the Korea Sports & Olympic Committee—not as a representative of a small elite minority.
While you focus only on the narrow demands of elite sports teams, countless students are being driven away from both sports and everyday physical activity due to the artificial divide between academics and athletics. Look around you. Do you truly hear diverse voices? Reflect seriously. If you believe none of this is necessary, resign immediately. You already stand accused of the worst forms of misconduct, including national team manipulation and illegal sponsorship fund distribution.
May 25, 2025
Civic Network for Justice in Sport, Cultural Action, Sports and Human Rights Institute