File photo of the Seoul Administrative Court located in Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul.

A court ruled that the late former national marathon coach Oh Chang-seok, who was called the 'father' of Kenyan naturalized marathoner Oh Joo-han (35), should be designated as a person of merit in sports.

According to the legal community on the 22nd, the 3rd Administrative Division of the Seoul Administrative Court (Chief Judge Su-jin Choi) ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by former coach Oh's wife, Ms. A, against the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to cancel the refusal to designate her as a person of merit in sports.

Former director Oh was a benefactor who discovered and nurtured Joo Han, and was a leader whom Joo Han even called “father” by his last name.

Former coach Oh went to Kenya for training in February 2020 to coach Joo Han, who won the Tokyo Olympics qualification.

Former coach Oh, who had a history of fighting blood cancer, coached Joo Han in Kaptagat, Kenya, at an altitude of 2,300 meters above sea level, for about 15 months, suffered from an endemic disease, returned to Korea in April 2021, and died a month later. When the Korea Sports Council was notified by the Korea Sports Council that it would not be able to support Oh Joo-han's training expenses as well as his salary if he returned home alone under the guideline that 'overseas training is based on the principle that players and coaches accompany each other,' former coach Oh was unable to return to Korea in time and was unable to receive proper treatment locally. It is known that it did not happen.

The court ruled in favor of his bereaved family, saying, “Causality is recognized between former coach Oh’s actions leading to the Olympics and his death due to worsening blood cancer.”

The court said, “At the time of inquiring about his return to the country in August 2020, there was an expert’s opinion that it was necessary to check whether former director Oh had progressed into blood cancer, and that the results could have been different if he had received chemotherapy while his body was in good condition.” He said, “Former coach Oh was unable to return to Korea due to issues such as training expenses, so he missed the appropriate time for treatment.”

If the ruling is confirmed, Mr. A will receive a monthly pension of 1.2 million won. 슬롯사이트