Dispute over Sports Foundations Threatens Local Economy Revitalization in Taebaek City and Yanggu County

Taebaek City and Yanggu County, which are revitalizing the local economy through sports competitions, have begun returning and suspending sports competitions, raising concerns that the conflict between sports foundations could become a disaster.

According to the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Sports Council on the 23rd, in September last year, the provincial city-county sports presidents’ council announced that it will continue to maintain its stance that it will not participate in sports competitions held in cities and counties that have established sports foundations or are pursuing the establishment of sports foundations from 2024.

▲The 2024 National Eoullim Sports Festival Badminton Competition held on the 18th and 19th at Taebaek Jangseong Gymnasium. It was initially reported that about 1,000 people would attend, but it turned out that the actual number of athletes was less than 100. ⓒReader

In the province, Yanggu-gun was the first to establish and operate a sports foundation on September 1, 2022, and Taebaek City has been pushing for the establishment of a sports foundation since 2023, despite strong opposition from the sports community.

Due to the aftermath of the Sports Foundation, Yanggu-gun postponed the ’19th Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Senior Sports Competition’ scheduled to be held in April, and the Gangwon-do archery competition scheduled for early this month was also postponed.

In particular, in the case of Taebaek City, which is experiencing severe conflict with the Sports Council and sports affiliated organizations, it was confirmed that the 13th Taebaek Mayor’s Cup Gangwon-do Ground Golf Tournament and the 31st Gangwon-do Association Janggi Table Tennis Tournament, which were scheduled to be held next month, were canceled.

In addition, the 2024 Taebaek Mayor’s Men’s and Women’s Archery Competition, which was scheduled to be held at Taebaek Yeonmujeong on the 25th, was recently changed from a return decision to a postponement, and the 16th Taebaeksan Cup National Club Badminton Competition and the 2nd Taebaek City Healing Oxygen City Cup National Club Baseball Competition were held. It is also known that it will be returned.

Concerns are growing as it is reported that not only will the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Baseball Softball Association long-term baseball tournament and the 20th Baekdudaegangi Gangwon-do club soccer tournament be returned, but also two to three competitions in the future will be returned.

The eight competitions in the Taebaek area where returns have been decided or are likely to have at least 400 to 1,000 people, and if 2,000 to 3,000 people are absent due to the return of competitions based on the number of people per competition, it is expected that the local commercial economy will inevitably contract accordingly.

A representative of a sports affiliated organization in the Taebaek area said, “After the mine closure, Taebaek City has been driving the local economy by attracting various sports competitions.” He added, “Unless Taebaek City cancels the establishment of a sports foundation, the number of sports competitions will decline sharply and eventually lead to a recession in the local economy.” “It will come down to this,” he said.

In addition, Kim Sang-ha, chairman of the Gangwon-do City and County Sports Association Presidents, emphasized, “The establishment of a sports foundation by a local government overlaps with the sports association in manpower and budget, and also lacks professionalism in hosting competitions.” He added, “As long as the sports foundation is maintained, the boycott of competitions will continue.”

Regarding this, a Taebaek City official said, “According to the National Sports Promotion Act, the work of the Sports Council and the administrative work of Taebaek City are completely separate,” adding, “We are establishing a sports foundation to strengthen the capabilities of the sports city, and we will do our best to attract various sports competitions to revitalize the local economy.” “I’m doing everything,” he countered.

He also added, “Some people take issue with the short-term schedule of sports competitions, but we will contribute to revitalizing the local economy by hosting at least one more sports competition.” He added, “There are two sports competitions that have been confirmed to be returned so far, and the rest have not been confirmed.” .

Meanwhile, Taebaek City has announced that it will boost the local economy by 100 billion won by hosting 58 various sports competitions (national and provincial levels) this year.

▲Taebaek City Sports Association press conference held on October 11 last year to call for the cancellation of the establishment of Taebaek City’s sports foundation. ⓒPresian

On the other hand, in the case of Yanggu-gun, which makes a living through sports, the local economic stimulus effect of 23.2 billion won was achieved by hosting 108 competitions last year, and this year, by hosting 105 competitions, an economic stimulus effect of about 25 billion won is expected, showing a contrast.

In particular, on the 9th, at the invitation of Yanggu-gun Mayor Seo Heung-won, a meeting was held in Yanggu-gun with the Gangwon-do city and county sports presidents, but the city and county sports presidents only confirmed the difference of position by indicating that they will continue to boycott sports competitions held in Yanggu and Taebaek if the sports foundation issue is not resolved. I said.

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2024-05-23 07:42:58
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