▲ The mother of the late Koo-min athlete who sheds tears


The survivors of the late Koo-min player and the litigation agent claimed that the wrong contract behavior of the former team Hyundai E&C was the cause of the death.

In response, the Hyundai E&C team responded by saying, "The player and the club agreed to terminate the contract, and after the voluntary withdrawal process, the player's intention to retire was confirmed."

The deceased's mother, Kwon Mo, and lawsuit attorney Park Ji-hoon, held a press conference today (20th) in Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, and held a press conference, saying, "Many people say that the cause of the extreme choice of Koo-min is malicious comments, but the Hyundai E&C coaching staff It is because of the bullying and the fraudulent play of the club that blocked the way to become a volleyball player."

Immediately after the press conference, the Hyundai E&C team rebutted the arguments of the bereaved, saying, "There was no bullying, such as the exclusion of training. After voluntary withdrawal, the deceased said,'I will go a different path other than volleyball'" at the meeting with the club.


The sports civic group'People and Movement' presented data that the police found on the deceased's mobile phone and tablet PC through a forensic investigation.

Attorney Park Ji-hoon said, "Ko Yoo-min consistently said,'The director treats me as an invisible person' and'I have never spoken properly with me' with his family, colleagues and mobile messenger. This led to exclusion. Yu-min Koo said that while wrapping up a colleague who made extreme choices at the hostel, it was hard enough to fall asleep by taking a sleeping pill more outside his eyes.”

The lawyers and the bereaved family also pointed out the manager and coach of Hyundai E&C as'the main culprit who ostracized Yu-min Ko'.

In response, Hyundai E&C said, "As a result of the team's own investigation, it has not been confirmed that the coach or the coach performed socially controversial behaviors against the deceased during training or games." "Go Yoo-min continued to compete in the game. It's not true that we excluded it from training.”

The survivors and attorneys also raised contractual issues.

Attorney Park Ji-hoon said, "Ko Yoo-min requested a trade from the club and responded positively to the club. And, using this as a bait, Yu-min Koo induces him to sign an agreement to terminate the player's contract on March 30. On May 1st," He said, “We unilaterally withdrew from Ko Koo-min.”

He said, "Ko Yoo-min wanted to continue playing as a volleyball player."

If attorney Park's argument is true, Hyundai E&C cannot avoid criticism for violating regulations.

Attorney Park explained, "If the contract is terminated, Koo Goo-min is a free agent. A free agent cannot be withdrawn."

A player bound by voluntary withdrawal cannot play as a player in the Korean Professional Volleyball V League unless the original team cancels it.

It is the opinion of the bereaved family and lawyers that the club has broken the will of the Koo-min player to continue his career.

Attorney Park said, "When I confirmed this with the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO), KOVO replied that'Hyundai E&C volleyball team has never submitted an agreement to terminate the contract with the player to the Federation. I also knew there was such a thing for the first time.' If this is true, the Hyundai E&C volleyball team also played a scam against KOVO.”


Hyundai E&C said, "The deceased left the team on February 29, 2020, when the 2019-2020 regular league was in progress. The player expressed his intention that he would leave the club for a considerable period of time due to physical and mental exhaustion due to internet misconduct." “The club suspended the contract as of March 30 through mutual agreement,” he explained.

He added, "In March, since it was impossible to withdraw voluntarily, we made a notice of voluntary withdrawal as of May 1, after the FA procedure was over. On June 15, the deceased firmly expressed his intention to'go a path other than volleyball'." It.

First of all, in this process, Hyundai E&C caused procedural problems.

The player who has terminated the contract as insisted by Lawyer Park cannot withdraw because he has already left the club.

Hyundai E&C did not pay salaries to Ko-min athletes from March to June.

This part can be interpreted in the favor of the survivors and lawyers.

KOVO did not know that Hyundai E&C and Ko-min had canceled the contract.

However, KOVO said, "There was something we missed during the communication between the federation and the club."

(Photo = courtesy of the Korean Volleyball Federation, courtesy of the bereaved family of Korean players, Yonhap News)