Chinese movie sparks controversy for depiction of Korean speedskaters

A scene from the Chinese film "Fly, Skating Star" / Captured from Instagram

By Dong Sun-hwa

A Chinese movie has caused a stir for depicting Korean speedskaters as being dirty or unethical, leading a Korean professor to take the issue to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for violating the Olympic spirit.

"Fly, Skating Star," which was released on the Chinese platform iQiyi on Feb. 12, revolves around a Chinese country boy, who later becomes a member of the national speedskating team. However, in the film, his rivals from Korea are portrayed as rule breakers, who intentionally trip him with their feet and hurt his eye with a skate blade.

This has led Seo Kyung-duk, a professor of general education at Sungshin Women's University who has been actively promoting Korea worldwide, to accuse Beijing city authorities of stirring up hatred against Korea. According to him, Beijing city was in charge of producing and distributing the controversial movie.

Professor Seo Kyung-duk / Korea Times file

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"I sent an email to IOC President Thomas Bach and all other committee members to let them know about what Beijing city has done," the professor wrote on Facebook, Friday. "How can a country hosting the Olympic Games incite hatred against a neighboring country to evoke patriotism among its people like this? This is a violation of the Olympic spirit."

Releasing the film during the Olympic Games is also an act that defames Korean skaters, he added.

"I asked the IOC to give a warning to the Beijing city authorities and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), so that an incident like this would not occur again in the future," Seo said.

Some internet users in Korea and China had a fierce war of words after Korean speedskater Hwang Dae-heon was disqualified from the men's 1,000m semifinals during the Winter Games, Feb. 7. The controversial disqualification allowed two Chinese speedskaters to go to the final and win gold and silver.

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