Seoul: South Korean figure skater Lee Hae-in has earned a ticket to an international competition set for next year in Seoul after returning from suspension over the weekend. Lee finished fifth in the women's singles at the national ranking competition, which doubled as the first leg of the 2025-2026 national team trials, on Sunday with a total of 190.64 points. She had 60.45 points from the short program and 130.19 points from the free skate. According to Yonhap News Agency, the top three finishers received spots for the 2025 International Skating Union Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, scheduled to take place next February in Seoul. The competition for skaters from non-European countries is limited to those who were at least 17 years old before July 1 of the previous year. Among the eligible skaters Sunday, Lee, 19, had the third-highest score behind the champion Kim Chae-yeon and Yun Ah-sun, both of them 17. Lee, the 2023 Four Continents champion and world silver medalist, had been suspended f or three years by the Korea Skating Union (KSU) in June after being accused of sexually harassing an underage male teammate during a national team training camp in Italy in May. Lee countered that she could not have harassed her teammate because they were in a romantic relationship and filed an injunction at the Seoul Eastern District Court to pause the ban. The Seoul court granted her request on Nov. 12, which allowed Lee to skate at the national team trials over the weekend. After qualifying for the Four Continents, Lee stood before cameras and read from a prepared statement, saying she will try to become "a more mature and more responsible athlete." She expressed that the experience was not just about competition but marked a new beginning for her. Lee acknowledged the weight of regaining her spot on the national team and viewed it as a step toward a sincere apology to her supporters. Reflecting on her challenging period, Lee stated, "I went through an extremely difficult period but it was also a valuabl e learning experience." She emphasized her commitment to ensuring such incidents do not recur and reiterated her aspiration to qualify for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics. In her statements, Lee clarified that her legal action against the KSU was not intended to provoke conflict but to rectify her situation. She emphasized the importance of maintaining a positive relationship with the governing body, recognizing their crucial role in the development of skating in South Korea.