The ministry is also considering involving the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in the investigation and installing an independent “sports ethics center” that would specialize in investigating misconduct in the sports circle. A bill that would enable this body to be formed was proposed last week and is currently pending at the National Assembly.

Other measures that will be taken include the employment of female trainers to check on the well-being of female athletes.

However, the ministry’s measures largely failed to hold the Korean Sports and Olympic Committee -- of which coach Cho Jae-gum, the alleged perpetrator in Shim’s case, is a part -- responsible.

In Korea, national-level athletes competing in sports without a professional league usually live and train at the state-run athletes’ village, under the management of coaching staff. Most professional athletes live in quarters run by their teams. Just last year, the Korean Basketball League decided to allow players to commute during home games.

Being confined to a living space under constant watch could make players more susceptible to influence from their coaching staff, particularly underage players.

At the professional level, a case of sexual violence involving a professional basketball player sparked nationwide outrage in 2007, resulting in a suspended prison term for the head coach.

In Shim’s case, multiple instances of sexual assault allegedly occurred in the four years leading up to last year’s PyeongChang Winter Games, which included a period when Shim was a minor.

Shim’s father recently told the Korean media that KSOC chief Lee Kee-heung told Shim that he would “take care of the Cho case,” and that he would bring him back “when the dust settles.” The KSOC denied that Lee had made the statement.

“The status of KSOC is twofold: It is a national Olympic committee with ties to the International Olympic Committee, and also a state organization,” said a ministry official, citing the IOC’s regulation that restricts a state from unfairly influencing its national Olympic committee.

“The situation concerning Lee should be handled as the regulation states, but we admit there are limits,” he said, adding that the ministry is considering measures to deal with repeat offenses by KSOC officials, though he did not elaborate.

Those in the sports circle have pointed out that KSOC’s lukewarm response toward offenders exacerbates the problem.

In 2009, KSOC created a center for those in the sports circle to report sexual violence, in response to sexual abuse by the professional basketball coach. In the past 10 years, the committee has investigated four of the 113 cases reported to the center.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)