KRA exploits jockeys, drives them to suicide

Oh Joon-sik, the father-in-law of Moon Joong-won, a jockey who committed a suicide last November, weeps as he marches toward Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Tuesday./ Yonhap

Activists says racing authority has too much power
By Kim Se-jeong

On Nov. 29, Moon Joong-won, a 40-year-old jockey working at the BusanGyeongnam horse racetrack, committed suicide. He was the seventh person from the same racetrack to kill themselves over the last decade. In his suicide note, Moon criticized the Korea Racing Authority (KRA) for abuse and corruption, and preventing him from becoming a trainer.

Ko Kwang-yong, a horse groom and former friend and colleague who is now an advocate for Moon, said the KRA's "excessive power" created an exploitative system which killed his friend. "The KRA's exploitation is pushing jockeys to death. We first need a sincere apology from the KRA," Ko said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

As a jockey, Moon, a husband and father of two children, never earned enough to support his family. He knew star jockeys were earning hundreds of millions of won per year. But he wasn't one of them and so worked hard to get by.

Riding in and winning as many races as possible was critical to bringing more money home ― there was no other pay for him ― and he tried. Problems arose when he was injured and had to take time off. Moon's father said the family's finances worsened because of the injury as he had no financial support and had to pay for treatment out of his own pocket ― jockeys are considered self-employed and have to pay for their own medical insurance.

Moon also didn't like his relationship with trainers he had signed riding contracts with. In the note, he explained this as abusive ― he was sometimes ordered to do unacceptable things such as deliberately losing a race. He had to comply with these for fear of losing out on chances to ride.

In 2015, he decided he wanted to become a trainer, which would guarantee more stability, and successfully passed the test. However, he was unsuccessful in interviews to win stable space to train horses.

After observing less qualified applicants getting training areas, he realized something was wrong. "Some people advised me to buy lunch for KRA officials who were on the panel of interviewers," he wrote in the note. He was never given the space.

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Ko said that although Moon did not work for the KRA, it was always attempting to discourage him.

The KRA has a monopoly in Korea running the three officials racetracks.

It also administers tests and issues jockey and trainer licenses, reviewing them for renewal every year.

The KRA also had the power to decide how much Moon would earn from races. Every year, the authority decides how many races to organize and the prize money for each. This money is divided between the owners, trainers, jockeys and grooms ― at the KRA's discretion ― of the first five horses only; the rest get nothing.

Ko explained the KRA was particularly harsh on jockeys at the BusanGyeongnam racetrack.

Unlike jockeys at the Seoul racetrack who receive a monthly salary regardless of their performance, those at BusanGyeongnam get nothing.

"This means if you don't compete in a race, you don't earn anything. This is nonsense because you can't attend every race because you sometimes don't feel well or get injured and need to rest. Even though you rest, you can't be relaxed because if you rest too long, trainers will forget you and you'll not get rides," Ko said.

A jockey's earnings consist of money from their riding contract with a trainer, the race attendance fee of around 100,000 won and prize money. According to a survey of 75 jockeys, the average income at the BusanGyeongnam is 1.5 million won per month.

The KRA said it imposes such arbitrary rules at the BusanGyeongnam racetrack because they will improve the competitiveness of Korean horseracing and jockeys. Reportedly, it also tried to terminate the salary Seoul jockeys received but was unsuccessful due to their strong opposition.

The KRA's response to criticism has been superficial and inconsiderate.
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"The average annual salary for jockeys is between 70 million won and 310 million. If you're good, you can earn a lot," an official said, implying Moon was not. He stressed that the KRA did not exploit jockeys as it did not employ them.

Moon's family and activists have launched a campaign to uncover the underlying reasons behind his suicide, and to bring about meaningful change. Instead of burying his body, the family even brought it to a demonstration in Seoul, in a show of determination to seek justice for him.

"Although, the KRA says it didn't directly employ Moon and had nothing to do with his death, its excessive power gave it the chance to exploit Moon and other jockeys. The KRA has to recognize this and bring about improvements," said Kim Hye-jin, an activist advocating for the rights of jockeys.