Korean athletes playing dirty? Chinese movie spurs outrage

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 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. Article By Dong Sun-hwa