'The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's second meeting with the director of the city and provincial sports bureau, KRW 41.6 billion in the budget for daily sports...Minister Yoo In-chon Hears Difficulties in Local Governments

Oct 30, 2024

photo courtesy of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) held a meeting of the city and provincial sports directors presided over by Minister Yoo In-chon on the 29th.

This afternoon, the meeting of the city and provincial sports directors held at the Seoul Museum of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul was the second this year after March, sharing the current status of policy implementation after the first meeting, the reorganization of the budget execution system in 2025, and cooperation to create a fair sports culture according to the results of the Badminton Korea Association survey.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will convert some of this year's sports budget (41.6 billion won) supported through the Korea Sports Association into local cooperation projects starting next year. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism expects that the reorganization of the policy, which does not lower the budget for all sports through the Korea Sports Council, will increase the efficiency and transparency of subsidy management by operating customized programs that take into account local residents' preferences and facilities and linking local expenses to increase the size of the budget for all sports support.

The 17 city and provincial sports directors who attended the meeting agreed on the purpose of the reorganization and agreed with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to match local expenses and discover new programs considering local conditions and autonomy to facilitate next year's project.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also shared requests for cooperation to create a fair sports culture in connection with the Badminton Association's investigation into each attempt. It urged the improvement of badminton players' salaries and contract periods, strengthening the management of sponsored goods for the provincial badminton association, participating in the operation support project of the workplace sports team and increasing the number of players. In addition, he guided the direction of budgeting for 2025, such as expanding the budget to create a sports environment in life and reorganizing the excellent player training system from a future-oriented perspective, and listened to suggestions from local governments that needed government cooperation. He also urged sports organizations that carry out projects in the region to take a close look to prevent illegal or unfair budget execution.

Culture Minister Yoo In-chon said, `Recently, the limitations of the existing system, such as organizational privatization and unfair culture in the sports world, are revealed.' In a situation where public demand for normalization of the sports world is increasing, cooperation from local governments, the basis of daily sports and the actual stage of activities for elite athletes, is paramount. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will also do its best to solve difficulties in the local field and reflect valuable opinions in the budget and policy" expressed his will.

sky4us@sportschosun.com