South Korea police probing assault of Chinese man amid Olympic skating furore: Reports

SEOUL: South Korean police are investigating an alleged assault on a Chinese student in the southern port city of Busan, local media reported on Friday (Feb 11), amid growing anti-China sentiment over an Olympics skating race controversy.

The disqualification of two South Korean short track speed skaters at the Beijing Winter Games has provoked anger at home, with many comments on social media and from some politicians accusing the referees of penalising them to boost the host nation's chances of winning medals.

The Busan incident occurred on Wednesday night when an unidentified Chinese student was attacked by two Korean men, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

A video posted by China's state-run Beijing Youth Daily on its Chinese social media WeChat account showed a man kicking another man sitting in a parking lot. The video was also widely circulated on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the video.

Police in Busan were unreachable for comment, but Yonhap said that an initial investigation did not find any link to the Olympics controversy, quoting a police official as saying that the assailants did not appear to have attacked the man because he was Chinese.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, when asked about the reports, said that its consulate in Busan had reached out to the student to provide assistance while coordinating with local police.

"We will spare no efforts to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests and personal safety of Chinese citizens overseas," he told a briefing.

South Koreans were especially irked by the disqualification of world number two Hwang Dae-heon, who crossed the line first in the men's 1,000m semi-final on Monday, but was penalised for