South Korean volleyball twins,
Lee Jae-yeong and Lee Da-yeong have been dropped from their national and club
sides amid allegations of teenage bullying.
"Total of four victims are
currently writing this, but there are more [victims]. We will not tell our
ages. We are writing comprehensively to avoid identifying ourselves."
"We thought of just moving
on with things that's happened 10 years ago, but when we saw the perpetrators'
social media post, not reflecting on their own past actions, we were reminded
of the past memories and are writing, hoping that they would look back on
themselves."
The twins have now apologized
saying they regret their childish actions.
In Jae-yeong's apology she
referred to "actions and images from her teenage years."
She wrote that she was
"seriously sorry to those who had to suffer from my wrongful words and
actions from my teenage years."
"I will never forget the
wrongful words and actions I have done and will become a more mature
person," she added.
Writing on her Instagram account,
Da-yeong said she would reflect on herself "with deep regret on the
traumas that the victims have."
"I deeply apologize for
speaking and behaving as a child that gave tough memories and scars to my
teammates who I have sweated and played with during my teenage years," she
added.
The twins say they will like to
meet their previous schoolmates to apologize for their actions.
The pair had played a major role
in helping the South Korean women's team qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
However, both have received a
heavy backlash since the allegations emerged with over 120,000 people signing a
petition to the Blue House, the residence of South Korea's President, calling
for an "national level investigation."
The Korean Volleyball Association
(KFA) released a statement stating both
sisters would be dropped from the national team ahead of this year's Olympic
Games.
"We decided that it will be
difficult to prevent recurrence of similar cases if we don't take tough actions
against currently issuing school bullying cases," read a statement.
"Therefore, considering the
gravity of the situation, we will indefinitely rule out school violence
perpetrators from the 2021 Volleyball Nations League, 2020 Tokyo Olympics and
other national team player selection for all international competitions."
The twins' club, the Incheon
Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders, also confirmed it would be suspending the
pair.
"We apologize for the
disappointment this situation has caused to those who love volleyball and feel
a strong sense of responsibility," read a statement.
"School bullying is
something that should never happen and cannot be tolerated for any reason. The
two players are thoroughly reflecting themselves by admitting the truth and
apologizing.
"We also would like to
apologize to the victims who suffered due to the players' wrongful
actions."
The Korean Volleyball Federation
(KOVO), issued a statement saying it
would "exclude players" involved in bullying and launched an
initiative to eradicate violence in school.
"The Korean Volleyball
Federation, as an organization that manages and operates the league, feels
strong responsibility and would like to apologize to the victims and
disappointed volleyball fans in regard to the recently issued bullying case
involving professional players' teenage years," read the statement.
Post a Comment