Ideological fervor cannot surpass scientific principles in sports

Om Yun-chol, a North Korean weightlifter who won the world championship in the men’s 56-kg category in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games by clearing a total of 287 kilograms, attributed his achievement to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying, “The great leader has told us that if we add an idea to an egg, we can break the stone with that egg. It was based on that spirit that made it possible for us to post a world record.” Om won gold in the 56-kg class of men’s weightlifting in the 2012 London Olympics.

Om sought his second Olympic gold in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics but settled for a silver medal. The then-chairman of the state Physical Culture and Sports Commission, Choe Ryong Hae, expressed frustration at the prospect of a non-gold outcome. Om lowered his head, apologizing for not winning gold. A voluntary interpreter commented that time seemingly moves backward in North Korea after hearing Om’s answer to interview questions.

Ri Se Kwang, a North Korean gymnast, echoed similar sentiments after winning gold in the Rio Olympics. Ri attributed success to mental strength and expressed gratitude to Kim Jong Un by saying, “Our greatest strength is our mental power. I am glorious to bring victory to our army and people and the news of victory to our great marshal Kim Jong Un.”

North Korea would be the undeniable champion if mental strength defined sporting prowess. On Feb. 28, 2023, Rodong Sinmun, a North Korean state media, published an editorial titled “Power that has no limit: mental strength,” claiming that ideology could surpass advanced weaponry, which is nonsense. An egg cannot break a stone, not due to insufficient mental power, but because of the law of science.

South Korea’s prominence in elite sports results from its world-class sports science. Japan, with a sports culture incomparable to Korea’s, achieved elite status after establishing the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences, modeled after the Korea Institute of Sports Sciences. To ensure success at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee should have focused on “scientific training methods and strategies.”

Contrary to this, Korean Sport & Olympic Committee Chairman Lee Ki-heung’s announcement after the Hangzhou Asian Games sent athletes to a “Marine Corps camp” allegedly to bolster mental strength. Despite criticism from Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Yoo In-chon, who labeled it an “outdated idea,” the KSOC proceeded with the “One Team Korea” event from December 18.

If Lee led North Korea’s sports commission, he might receive gratitude from Paris Olympics medalists. However, if South Korean athletes uttered similar sentiments, the world might mock South Korea for supposedly “going backward” in its approach.