The ’42nd Korea Badminton Association Long-Term Sports National Badminton Competition’ was held in Gimhae for two days from the 27th to the 28th.
This competition was the largest ever with over 10,000 players, executives, and family members participating from all over the country.
At the opening ceremony held at the Gimhae Indoor Gymnasium on the 27th, a large number of players, badminton officials including Gimhae Mayor Tae-yong Hong, and family citizens attended, adding to the excitement of the competition.
The competition was hosted by the Korea Badminton Association and jointly organized by the Gyeongnam Provincial Badminton Association and the Gimhae City Badminton Association. It was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, Korea Sports Council, Gyeongnam Province, Gimhae City, Gyeongnam Provincial Sports Council, and Gimhae City Sports Council.
More than 3,000 teams participated in the match, with men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles events divided by age and level from those in their 20s to 70s.
Badminton enthusiasts from all over the country showed high satisfaction with Gimhae City’s stadium facilities and overall operation, and also gave favorable reviews about living convenience facilities such as accommodations and restaurants. As consumption for lodging, dining out, and tourism was concentrated, the revitalization of local commercial districts and the economic ripple effect were also evident.
The Gyeongnam Provincial Badminton Association, which hosted the competition, provided participants with 6,500 pieces of Jinyeong five-colored rice, a specialty of the Gimhae region, as souvenirs.
Lee Man-gi, president of the Gyeongnam Provincial Badminton Association, said, “With Gimhae’s excellent sports infrastructure and mature competition operation, we will help improve Gimhae’s city brand by attracting a large number of national competitions in the future.”
Mayor Hong Tae-yong said, “It is meaningful to hold a national competition on the largest scale at the end of this year,” and added, “This competition publicizes the National Sports Festival, which will be held in Gyeongsangnam-do with Gimhae as the main host city in April next year, and that Gimhae is a city with a virtuous cycle of sports, tourism, and local economy.”
Next year, the city plans to promote the sports industry and strategic sports marketing in earnest by converging sports, tourism, and culture.
◆Gimhae City National Route 58 (Mugye~Samgye) 13km section fully opened
The entire section (13.76km) of National Highway No. 58 (Mugye ~ Samgye), which connects Mugye and Samgye in Jangyu, Gimhae City, opened on the 29th.
This opening is expected to significantly improve traffic flow in the western Gimhae region by enabling mainline traffic across the entire section between Mugye-dong and Samgye-dong.
As a result, among the Mugye-Samgye alternative bypass construction section of National Highway No. 58, which is being promoted by the Busan Regional Construction Management Office, all sections including the Juchon-Samgye section, which was partially opened in October last year, and the unopened section Juchon-Eungdal are all connected.
The Mugye-Samgye bypass construction project connects a total of 13.76km from Eungdal-dong to Samgye-dong, and the total project cost was KRW 480.1 billion.
Construction began in March 2008, and the section between Juchon Intersection and Samgye Intersection was partially opened in October 2024, and the entire section was opened this time.
With the opening of this road, continuous driving between Mugye and Samgye will be achieved and traffic that was distributed to existing urban roads will be absorbed into the bypass road.
As a result, traffic congestion during rush hour and work hours is expected to be greatly improved and it is expected to greatly contribute to safe port traffic.
As the continuity of National Route 58 is secured, the city expects that traffic flow throughout the western Gimhae area, including the vicinity of West Gimhae IC, will become smoother, and regional logistics conditions will also be greatly improved by improving accessibility to Jinhae and Tongyeong.
