South Korea on Tuesday laid out plans to eliminate violence in local sports, hoping to better protect rights of victims and discipline abusive coaches.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said in order to protect abused athletes at all levels, the Center of Athletes’ Rights and Interests, an organization under the Korean Olympic Committee that currently provides counseling for amateur athletes, will also help professional athletes.

Under the ministry’s plan, the center will also strengthen abused athletes’ right to privacy and confidentiality when they report their cases.

The ministry said it will ask local sport governing bodies to apply the “zero tolerance” principle to their handling of abusive coaches.

The ministry will also force governing organizations to bring in independent experts during their investigation and disciplinary proceedings on abuse cases.

The ministry will introduce a detailed index on ethics to evaluate sport governing bodies’ commitment to eradicating violence.

Findings will be revealed publicly each year and poor performances by the governing agencies will result in cuts to government grants, the ministry added.

The ministry also said it will establish a more stringent registration system for coaches so that abusive instructors will not be able to return to work while they’re still serving penalties for their behavior.

The ministry also plans to offer more rewards to coaches who display positive leadership.

The ministry said it decided to formulate these measures after a recent survey showed a culture of violence remains prevalent in South Korean sports. (Yonhap News)