Tim Kim throws a stone during the women’s curling match once morest Denmark at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics held at the National Aquatic Center in Beijing, China on the 16th of last month. Beijing = News
Tim Kim of the Korean women’s curling team also participates in the ‘Russia boycott’ movement. Korea Curling is the first Korean sports organization to impose sanctions on Russia.
The Korea Curling Federation said in a statement on the 1st, “We express serious concerns regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.” The federation said, “This is a joint response with international sports organizations such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Curling Federation (WCF).”
Accordingly, the Korean national team will boycott Russia’s match in the men’s and women’s mixed doubles (mixed duo) world tournament to be held this month and next month. Both Korea and Russia have qualified for three events.
The first event expected to be boycotted is the Women’s World Championships in which Tim Kim participates. It will be held in Prince George, Canada from the 19th to the 27th of this month, and Tim Kim is scheduled to compete with the Russian Curling Federation (RCF) on the 20th.
Next, the Gyeongbuk Athletic Association, the men’s national team, will give up the RCF match held at the Men’s Curling World Championships (3-11th of next month) to be held in Las Vegas, USA on the 5th of next month.
Also, the federation decided not to play if the match once morest Russia is confirmed at the Mixed Doubles World Championships scheduled for Geneva, Switzerland from the 23rd to the 30th of next month.
The federation will continue to boycott all matches once morest Russia in accordance with WCF guidelines unless Russia stops its invasion of Ukraine. Kim Yong-bin, president of the Korea Curling Federation, said, “We are the first Korean sports organization to announce a statement to join the policies of various sports organizations around the world.” We will not cooperate with any government that breaks the peace.” He continued, “Korea also has a painful history of being deprived of the country by the Japanese and experiencing horrendous pain. “War and military aggression cannot justify any justification,” he said.
Park Kwan-gyu reporter ace@hankookilbo.com