Hyo-jun Lim, a gold medalist at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, naturalized to China. yunhap news
It was revealed that former Korean short track national team Lim Hyo-jun, 25, had already naturalized to China in June of last year, nine months ago.
The fact of Im Hyo-jun’s promotion of naturalization in China was first announced on the 6th. Lim Hyo-jun said that it recently decided to naturalize China to participate in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
According to the official gazette announced by the Daegu Immigration and Foreigners Office on the 17th, Lim Hyo-jun acquired Chinese nationality on June 3 of last year and lost his Korean nationality.
Lim Hyo-joon’s management agency explained earlier this month, “Because of the sexual harassment of same-sex juniors in June 2019, we were unable to train, and as the trial and disciplinary period of the Federation became prolonged, it became difficult to continue our dream of wanting to go to the Olympics.” He was naturalized just one year after the incident and after receiving a fine of 3 million won in the first trial.
According to the sports community, Lim Hyo-jun has received naturalization requests from China since the forcible harassment incident. In the short-track men’s team in China, Wu Da Jing remains the world’s strongest in short-range, but the mid-to-long range is weak.
However, it seems that Lim Hyo-jun decided to naturalize China without being fully aware of the relevant regulations. It is unlikely that his wish to appear as the Chinese national team at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will come true.
According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in order for an athlete to change nationality to compete in the Olympics, three years must pass after the previous international competition. Lim Hyo-jun, a Korean national team player in March 2019, has participated in the International Ice Skating Federation (ISU) World Championships, so he cannot play in the Beijing Olympics, which opened on February 4 and ends on the 20th.
There is an exception clause that allows participation in the Olympics if the previous nationality’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) grants permission, because it is unlikely that the Korea Sports Association will allow Lim Hyo-jun to participate.
Im Hyo-jun, who has signed a contract with the Ice Skating Federation of Hebei Province, China, rather than the Ice Skating Federation of China, plans to play as a playing coach in Hebei Province for the time being.
Reporter Go Seok-hyun [email protected]
