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Kim Nami, secretary-general of the Korea Sports Council, has resigned after coming under fire for making inappropriate remarks to the family of a student athlete who fell into a coma during a competition.
On May 4, the Korea Sports Council announced that Kim had offered her resignation and would take responsibility for the matter that had been raised.
Through the council, Kim issued a formal apology to the public and the sports community, saying she felt a heavy responsibility as a public official and would step down from her post.
Criticism intensified after recordings surfaced of Kim’s remarks to the family of \”A,\” a middle-school boxer who was punched and collapsed during last September’s President’s Cup national boxing tournament and remains unconscious.
Kim initially told A’s parents she would \”take 100% responsibility,\” but later reversed course. A transcript released to the media quotes Kim saying the child \”had no chance from the start\” and was \”already brain-dead.\” She also compared the case to a fatal marathon accident in which the family donated the victim’s organs—comments that provoked further outrage.
Kim said she was \”extremely offended\” that the parents recorded their conversation, suggesting she wondered whether they might be trying to gain financially from their son’s situation.
As the controversy spread, Korea Sports Council President Yoo Seung-min abruptly cut short an overseas trip, returned to Seoul, suspended Kim’s duties on May 1 and launched disciplinary proceedings. Kim announced her resignation three days after the suspension.
The council said it recognizes the gravity of the case and will review its systems to ensure athlete protections operate without gaps, strengthen public-service ethics, enforce organizational discipline and focus all efforts on restoring public trust.
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