After drunk driving crash, instant 'nationality laundering'... A second Lin Xiaojun, this time in Hungary

[The Financial News] A national team athlete who caused public outrage with drunk driving and was suspended has given up the Korean flag and will compete at the Olympics after naturalizing to another country. Following Short Track Speed Skating star Lin Xiaojun, who became a Chinese citizen, a similar case has now emerged in speed skating.
The athlete in question is Kim Minszok, 27, formerly Korea’s leading middle-distance speed skater. He will compete at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics as a member of the Hungarian national team.
In Korean men's speed skating, Kim Minszok was as big a figure as Lim Hyo-jun was in Short Track Speed Skating. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, he won bronze in the men's 1,500m and silver in the team pursuit. At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, he again reached the podium by finishing third in the men's 1,500m.

Kim Minszok’s move to Hungary was decisively triggered by a drunk-driving crash in July 2022. While intoxicated inside the Jincheon National Training Center, he drove his own car and collided with a curb on the sidewalk.
For this incident, the Korea Skating Union handed him a one-year-and-six-month suspension, and the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) imposed a two-year national team suspension. A court also fined him 4 million won.
After his suspension, his contract with his team expired and he lost proper access to training facilities. Facing this situation, he opted for a change of nationality. In July 2024, even before his suspension period had fully ended, he acquired Hungarian citizenship.
The case inevitably recalls that of Short Track Speed Skating star Lin Xiaojun. Lin, too, received a suspension over a sexual harassment controversy at the training center and then chose to naturalize as a Chinese citizen in order to keep competing at the Olympics.
Inside and outside the sports community, some are voicing concern that "changing nationality whenever you are disciplined is becoming a kind of formula."


The atmosphere in Hungary contrasts sharply with that in Korea. According to Hungarian media, Kim recently attended the oath-taking ceremony for the Hungarian Olympic team at Sándor Palace, where he took an oath in front of the Hungarian flag.
After Kim Minszok secured quota spots in the men's 1,000m and 1,500m, the Hungarian National Skating Federation has been actively promoting him as "the athlete who brought Hungary its 15th Olympic quota." Rather than focusing on his drunk-driving record in Korea, they appear more interested in the medal potential his performance could bring.
In a local interview, Kim Minszok stressed that his naturalization was unavoidable, saying, "Because of the suspension, I had no team and no income, so I was unable to train."
At this Olympics, Kim Minszok will compete for medals against Korean skaters. Short track speed skater Moon Won-jun, who also naturalized to Hungary, has likewise been named to the Hungarian Olympic team.
Public opinion in Korea remains icy. On online communities, critical comments dominate, such as, "If you committed a crime, you should reflect, not launder your nationality," and "Is the status of national team athlete something you can choose like shopping?"
Others, however, offer a more sympathetic view, saying, "Was it not an inevitable choice to keep his career as an athlete alive?"
With less than a week to go until the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, all eyes are on what kind of results Kim Minszok will produce wearing a Hungarian uniform after his drunk-driving suspension, and how Korean society will respond to those results.
jsi@fnnews.com Jeon Sang-il Reporter