Was Television Work the Priority After All...? Court Officially Recognizes Former Coach Hyun Joo-yup's 18 Unauthorized Absences

[Financial News] A Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education audit finding that broadcaster and former basketball player Hyun Joo-yup left his workplace without authorization while serving as coach of Whimoon High School's basketball team, without approval for concurrent employment, was also recognized as fact by the court.
However, the court sided with the school, ruling that the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's severe administrative and financial sanctions against student-athletes were unlawful because they violated the principle of proportionality and caused excessive harm to students for the coach's misconduct.
According to legal circles on the 17th, the Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 2, led by Judge Gong Hyun-jin, issued a partial victory for the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the Whimoon Uisuk school foundation against the Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to revoke measures ordered following an audit.
The case began when allegations emerged that Hyun frequently missed training and practice sessions in 2024 while serving as coach of Whimoon High School's basketball team, citing broadcast filming and other reasons.
In response, SMOE conducted a comprehensive audit and a civil complaint investigation in April of that year. It found that Hyun had left his workplace without prior authorization on 18 occasions and requested that he receive a salary reduction. SMOE also pointed to the improper disbursement of labor costs for the basketball team's full-time coach and problems with the use of the team's operating funds. It notified the school of severe sanctions, including a one-year restriction on transfers of student-athletes with athletic talent to the basketball team and a one-year exclusion from special training funding. The Whimoon Uisuk school foundation filed an administrative lawsuit in protest.
The court found all the grounds for the audit-related measures concerning the coach, including Hyun's "unauthorized absence from the workplace," to be justified.
The court stated, "It is recognized that he performed another job without approval for concurrent employment under the relevant regulations and left the workplace without authorization without designating substitute workdays." It added, "Even if unfamiliarity with administrative procedures was the cause or he worked overtime afterward, that cannot justify his actions." The court also acknowledged operational improprieties, including duplicate salary payments to the existing coach.
However, the court ordered the cancellation of all severe measures imposed directly on the basketball team, including the restriction on incoming transfers.
The court noted, "Preventing new players from transferring in for one year would weaken the team's competitiveness, which would in turn have a devastating impact on the students currently enrolled." Its reasoning was that allowing adults, including the coach, to seriously disrupt the operation of a sports team directly tied to students' career paths would infringe on the private interests of students and their parents far more heavily than any public benefit that could be gained.
The ruling clarified the grounds for disciplinary action over Hyun Joo-yup's personal dereliction of duty. At the same time, the prestigious Whimoon High School basketball team, which had been pushed to the brink of disbandment, has narrowly been given some breathing room.
[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter