The Seoul court on Thursday handed down a 1 million won ($850) fine to a 46-year-old doctor on the charge of violating medical law by injecting Olympic swimming champion Park Tae-hwan with a banned substance off the books.

The doctor, identified by her surname Kim, was indicted in February for administering Nebido, a commercial drug used to treat testosterone deficiency, to Park. It is banned for use in athletic events by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

“Although the defendant had the obligation to specifically explain the possibility of the injection leading to a positive doping test, she failed to do so or explained insufficiently,” the Seoul Central District Court said in its ruling.

It also pointed out that when Park asked specifically if Nebido would make him test positive for doping, Kim answered “there won’t be any problems.”

But the court cleared Kim of negligence charges, dismissing Park’s claim that her injection led to bodily harm.

Park tested positive for doping last year and was suspended until March 2, 2016. The Federation Internationale de Natation, the international governing body for swimming, also stripped him of six medals he won at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.

In July, the 26-year-old swimmer claimed he did not know he was injected with a banned substance.

Park is the only South Korean swimmer to win an Olympic medal and a world championship. He returned home last week after training in Japan for two months.


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