What opened with an electrifying performance of Psy’s “Gangnam Style” ended in disgrace for South Korea as the 2014 Asian Games came to a close. Held in Incheon, South Korea from September 19 to October 4, the famous sport event, second only to the Olympic Games in stature, was besieged with allegations of massive cheating and rigging that favored the host country.
Indian boxer in the women’s division Sarita Devi lost to South Korea’s Park Jina in the semifinal match in a highly controversial decision, with Devi placing her bronze medal on the stunned Park’s neck during the awarding ceremony. Devia was suspended by the International Boxing Association for her action but she has since apologized and her bronze medal was reinstated. Other dubious wins of the South Koreans in boxing involved players from Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand and India in the men’s division.
The coaches and players of badminton from China, Thailand and Japan had similar experiences of strange wind blowing in the stadium during the games. The coaches of these countries suspected the wind was controlled by the Koreans resulting in their winning the matches. In soccer, Japan and Thailand lost to South Korea by penalty kicks awarded to the Koreans through biased officiating.
One wonders how about the behavior of South Koreans. Is it in their nature to cheat? Or is the population being unfairly judged by the actions of a few?
In the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, South Korean skater Kim Dong-Sung was disqualified for the gold medal after it was found that he blocked Apolo Anton Ohno during the last lap. Ohno, an American whose father is Japanese, was awarded the gold medal. That rankled with the South Koreans, considering its historical bad blood with the Japanese for the war atrocities committed against the Korean comfort women. Ohno claimed to receive death threats and when he went to the ROK for a competition, he was guarded by 100 police officers in riot gear.
In the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the win by South Korean Cho Jun-ho in judo was reversed in favor of Japan’s Ebinuma Masashi. In the badminton doubles, the ROK players, along with China’s and Indonesia’s, were banned from playing after the International Olympics Committee decided they used deceit to gain favorable draws.
Amid online protests from fans of teams and athletes of other nation nations, South Koreans had the temerity to hurl their own insults. In the soccer match against Thailand in the recently concluded Asian Games, they responded to the Thais’ objections by vilifying the image of the King of Thailand online. A sidewalk in South Korea was painted with an image of the flag of Thailand that people passing by could stomp on.
Credit must be given to the Thai royal family for their unperturbed calm and grace in spite of the Koreans’ obnoxious behavior. A member of the royal family simply stated that their dignity “is shaped by the sum of all the sensible and moderate actions of individual citizens.”
The King of Thailand and his royal family are well-loved by the citizens and any insult directed at them may result in violent acts towards the perpetrators, in this case the South Koreans, regardless of whether they participated or not. Hence, news about this incident is not reported in Thailand, as are all negative comments about the monarchy, and to protect the Korean residents in Thailand as well. And, with the impending conflict over the removal and forthcoming impeachment hearings on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra by the military parliament, Thailand certainly doesn’t need any more problems.