After winning gold in Sochi, Ahn explained his reasons for joining the Russian team saying, "I wanted to train in the best possible environment and I proved my decision was not wrong."

[13][14] However, since his change in 2014 he had been increasingly criticized for his work in Russia amid the Russo-Ukrainian War and his coaching position in the Chinese team at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

[16] After being denied his position as Seongnam City Hall coach due to strong public opposition, Ahn explained the controversy he knew about his loss of nationality in advance and receives a full Olympic medal pension prior to Russian naturalization.

The first time he watched the sport on television was during the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer where one of his heroes, Chae Ji-hoon, took gold in the 500 m and silver in the 1000 m for South Korea.

In a bold move, Jun opted for the 16-year-old, who lacked international experience, to compete in the 1000 m individual event, a decision that faced opposition from the Korea Skating Union and others.

In 2006, the recommendation system for selection of representative players of the Korea Skating Union disappeared from the national team trials as the conflict of factional fighting was exposed to the public.

In the national team Jun Myung-kyu stepped down from his post due to poor performance at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, and Olympic medalists Kim Ki-hoon took over the men's national team,[41] but in 2004, Kim was forced to resign due to the controversy over forcing his athletes to wear skates made by the family-run skating company.

At the height of the conflict, the Korea Skating Union dismissed the national team coach Chun Jae-Su, who had called for the resignation of the entire leadership, accusing him of stirring unrest among parents and athletes.

Parents further alleged that there was political pressure exerted by a national assembly member associated with the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

[51] Prior to his naturalization in Russia in 2011, Ahn mentioned that during this difficult time, Sung Si-bak and Lee Seung-hoon, who weren't then part of the national team, supported him.

On April 26, 2006, the reward and punishment committee concluded that "it was not an intentional collision after playing the videos more than 100 times," and that Ahn Hyun-soo, Lee Ho-suk, and Oh Se-jong were all unintentional.

Ahn and Lee Ho-suk used to attend the same high school together, and even shared a room the previous year in skating camps, but due to the conflict they had begun to rarely speak to each other.

[76][77] Ahn Hyun-Soo's father has decided to reveal the match-fixing of the national team trial for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver due to the following reasons.

[61] Since then, South Korean media has reported that he received the full Olympic medal pension in July 2011, and decided to naturalized to Russia in August.

While his knee injury did not allow him to top the 1500 m races that he had dominated when representing Korea, his experience, technique, and exclusive training on the 500 m helped Ahn lead the distance in the World Cup rankings.

[113] He also added that his father, who had argued Ahn was the victim of faction fight in Korea, was contradicting him, and going to the Olympics was the sole reason why he made the difficult decision to come to Russia.

[5][119] In an interview after the 2016 World Championships, which he did not take part in but did watch, he told the press that doctors have warned him undergoing extra surgery would jeopardize his career, and thus he is working on adding muscles to relieve the pain.

Ahn, who had never tested positive for drugs, challenged the decision writing an open letter to IOC President Thomas Bach,[121] but he was not answered.

Ahn decided to retire from the sport and return to his home country of South Korea after rejecting an offer to coach the Russian team in September 2018.

[127] However, the Korea Skating Union was soon mired in controversy due to an assault on a female player and a related #MeToo incident involving a national team coach, which drew significant attention in South Korean society and led to government investigations.

[26][128] Amid the tumultuous events within the Korea Skating Union, Viktor Ahn's discussions to lead the South Korean national team were hindered by his controversies and lack of coaching experience.

Regarding the accusations that were poured on not only him but also his family, Ahn said, "It suddenly occurred to me that if I gave up short track speed skating, this controversy would end," adding, "I thought I had been supported for my passion and games, but it was heartbreaking to see unexpected things lead to criticism."

[17] As a result, some South Korean media outlets suggested that there was a factional power struggle and political involvement in the ice skating world.

[151][152] On February 7, Viktor Ahn expressed his position on the controversy over Russian naturalization on his social network service (SNS) after "received a lump-sum payment of the athletes' pension," which the Korea skating coach union pointed out as a moral issue.

Ahn's strained relationship with Jun Myung-kyu, the president of Korea Ice Skating, made it challenging for him to find a suitable place to train and compete within the country.

[171][172] After his feat in Sochi, Ahn was awarded the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" from Russian President Vladimir Putin[173] and the Medal "For Strengthening Military Cooperation".

[122] The South Korean public was generally supportive of Ahn in early 2014,[194][195] but he also received online bashing amidst controversies at Sochi and in later years.

A significant development occurred in February 2022 when Won Hee-ryong, associated with Yoon Suk Yeol's People's Power presidential campaign, asserted that Viktor Ahn's choice to become a Russian national was influenced by Lee Jae-myung.

[197][198] As of 2022, Lee Jae-myung faces legal scrutiny for allegedly accepting 17 billion won in unauthorized bribes from companies, masked as donations to Seongnam FC.

For sports personnels who are exempted from active duty are recognized to have completed 34 months of military service if they have spent time as athletes in their field.