By Kwon Ji-youn, Woo Hae-chung

INCHEON ― A series of scandals involving controversial judgments favorable to South Korean athletes have been tainting the already-battered Incheon Asian Games, but South Korean fans and media are also being criticized for their purported double standard about such incidents by their Asian neighbors.

South Korean boxer Park Jin-a’s win Tuesday in the women’s lightweight semifinals has been roundly criticized as a decision unfairly given to the boxer fighting in her home country, as her opponent appeared to dominate the match.

But some local media bashed Park’s opponent Sarita Devi of India for refusing her bronze medal Wednesday and instead slipping it around Park’s neck. Some called her act senseless and blasted her for behaving indecently, focusing more on the Indian’s behavior on the podium than on the judging of the Park-Devi match that was called into question.

Such controversy is nothing new for South Korea, as Devi’s rejection calls to mind Korean fans’ angry reactions to similar incidents their athletes have experienced at international sporting events, including the Olympics.

You don’t have to look very far. It wasn’t that long ago when figure-skater Kim Yuna’s loss to Russia’s Adelina Sotnikova at the Sochi Winter Olympics earlier this year caused national outrage that led to an official complaint being lodged with the International Skating Union (ISU).

Kim, the defending champion, skated clean to earn 219.11 points, 5.48 points short of Sotnikova’s score.

But retired athletes and experts questioned the fairness of the judging, arguing that Sotnikova’s points had been dramatically inflated. Most agreed that the Russian skater had been good, but not gold-medal good. The fact that Yuri Balkov of Ukraine served as a judge after being suspended following the 1998 Olympics for attempting to fix the ice dancing competition added fuel to fire. So did the fact that another judge, Russian Alla Shekhovtseva, is married to the former Russian skating federation president.

South Korean fencer Shin A-lam’s defeat in the women’s individual epee semifinals at the 2012 London Olympics also caused an uproar. Shin and defending champion Britta Heidemann of Germany were deadlocked at 5-5 with one second left on the clock, but the two played three times for the winning point, each time with the longest second remaining.

The German earned a winning point in a swipe attempt that without a doubt took more than a second. Shin’s coach filed an official complaint following her loss and was awarded a “special medal,” which she rejected.

But critics suggest Korean sports fans and media representatives seem hypocritical when it appears South Korean athletes benefit from questionable judging or decisions.

At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, American boxer Roy Jones Jr. lost to South Korea’s Park Si-hun in what many described as an inexplicable upset, but local reaction to the controversy was lukewarm at best.

Many also attributed South Korea’s fourth-place finish in the 2002 World Cup to a home advantage, but Korean newsstands brimmed with celebratory headlines and acclamations about the local team’s surprising success.

Controversy plagued the 1986 Asian Games, when South Korea defeated Indonesia in the badminton semifinals, which the Indonesians said was a result of poor officiating. A similar uproar occurred at the 2002 Busan Asiad, when an Indonesian boycotted a badminton match because of what was termed “biased officiating.”

The Asiad taking place on home soil has found it difficult to veer clear of such controversies, where South Korea is obligated to verify that such disputes do not reoccur.

At a news conference, Thursday, the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee said that it is doing all that it can to make sure South Korean athletes are not granted home advantages.

“The president of the IAGOC stressed that home advantages should not be given under any circumstances,” said Son Cheon-taik, sports deputy secretary general of the IAGOC.

“As of now, there is nothing we can do, because the Indian team did not lodge an official protest. Judgment calls are made by the Olympic Council of Asia and the respective Asian federations. We can only ask that they make fair evaluations and decisions.”

Most officials, including a top international boxer, do agree, however, that Devi’s emotional outburst was uncalled for. The unnamed boxer said that Devi’s rejection of the bronze medal sets a bad precedent for future athletes in the sport. Former French American figure skater Surya Bonaly could not escape criticism after acting similarly in 1994 in Japan, after the gold medal was awarded to home country favorite Yuka Sato.

“We all sympathize with her, but she should realize that winning and losing is a part and parcel of sports,” an official of the Indian delegation told The Times of India, Wednesday. “You win some and you lose some.”