A, a former national figure skating women's singles representative, who received a one-year suspension from the Korea Skating Union for showing a photo of figure skater Lee Hae-in to fellow athlete Lee Sung, resulting in feelings of sexual shame, has regained her athlete status.
According to the legal community on the 26th, the 21st Civil Division of the Eastern District Court of Seoul (Director General Kim Jeong-min) cited the injunction requested by figure skater A on the 25th to suspend the disciplinary action of the skating union.
The court found that A's act of photographing Lee Hae-in did not itself cause sexual shame.
A faced disciplinary action from the union for allegedly taking sexually inappropriate photos of Lee Hae-in without her consent during a training camp in Italy last May and showing those photos to fellow athlete B, who was in a romantic relationship with Lee Hae-in at the time.
However, the court found no grounds to acknowledge that A had shown the photos to B. Lee Hae-in's submission of a petition stating that she did not feel sexual shame from the photos and that she was mistaken in thinking they had been shown to someone else influenced the ruling.
With the court's ruling suspending the disciplinary action, A now has the possibility of participating in the representative selection for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, which is expected to be held in December.
According to the national representative selection regulations of the Korea Skating Union, receiving a disciplinary action of one year or more for sexual violence-related misconduct disqualifies an athlete from being a national representative.
Under the existing disciplinary actions, A would not be able to challenge for the national team even after the suspension period expired in June. However, with the court's ruling to suspend the disciplinary action, she has regained her athlete status and can now aim for the national team.