South Korean officials vow to look into triathlete's abuse claims

Top South Korean officials on Monday offered a public apology and vowed to delve into death of a triathlete who h reported to government and sports bodies that she h been abused her team coach, physical rapist and colleagues. Choi Suk-hyeon, 22, was found de late last month, after sending a mobile chat mess asking her mor to disclose alleged crimes of people who abused her. Public outr later erupted after media revelations that authorities didn't quickly act though Choi h registered petitions over alleged abuses with several government and sports bodies.

On Monday, Sports Minister Park Yang-woo told a parliamentary committee meeting that he “feels heavy responsibility” for her death and apologized to her bereaved family and South Korean public. Vice Sports Minister Choi Yoon-hee told same meeting that a 20-member investigation team was launched last week to find why authorities didn’t properly respond to athlete's petitions and wher related sports supervisory or support bodies functioned over case in an appropriate manner.

“We will thoroughly investigate,” vice minister said. “We’ll sternly punish those” responsible for Choi Suk-hyeon’s death.

During parliament’s meeting, team coach, identified by lawmakers as Kim Kyu-bong, and two athletes accused of abusing Choi said that y h never beaten or abused her. Choi's cause of death was ruled a suicide. State prosecutors are separately investigating abuse allegations she me before her death, according to Korean Sports & Olympic Committee.

Last week, world’s triathlon’s governing body expressed its shock over Choi’s death and asked South Korea’s local triathlon federation and Olympic committee to share information about her case. alleged abuses happened when Choi belonged to a team run by local government of Gyeongju city in souast.

Earlier Monday, two of her ex-teammates told reporters y and Choi h been beaten and suffered verbal and or abuses by ir team’s coach, a physical rapist and senior teammates. One of m said she and Choi were once forced to eat 200,000 won ($167) worth of bre until dawn as a punishment for gaining weight.

two women requested ir names t be revealed, citing worries that media publicity would dam ir private lives. Choi, a junior bronze medalist at 2015 Triathlon Asian Championships, was first picked in national team in 2015, while still in high school. Her last major race was in October, when she finished South Korean championship in 14th place.

abusive treatment of athletes has been a deep-rooted problem in South Korea, which considers achievements in Olympics and or international sports events as a national pride. Athletes often live in dormitories, where coaches often exercise overbearing control, and y skip school from a young in order to perform well at athletic events, leaving m with less education and career choices, which makes it harder for m to resist unjust treatment, experts say.

In recent years, South Korean female athletes, wrestlers and judo and taekwondo players accused ir male coaches of sexually abusing m. Members of country’s silver medal-winning Olympic curling team, cheered as Garlic Girls for ir hometown’s famed produce, accused ir former coaches of verbal abuse and holding back prize money.