Jeju Island, Establishing a System for Promoting Community Sports and Attracting Training Camps

Published 22 Dec.2021 10:49(KST)

[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Chang-won] Jeju Special Self-Governing Province announced on the 22nd that it achieved meaningful results this year in the field of sports, including excellent performances in international and domestic competitions, activation of community sports, establishment of a training camp attraction system, and preparation of a five-year sports promotion plan.

This year, at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Jeju produced outstanding athletes who won one gold medal (Oh Jin-hyeok), one silver and one bronze medal each (Lee Dong-seop), and set new Korean records in the National Disabled Sports Festival with two in weightlifting and one in athletics.

Despite the contraction of sports activities due to COVID-19, Jeju showed the highest nationwide rate of 73.5% in the "community sports participation rate" in the National Sports Participation Survey conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (national average 60%), and held 59 sports competitions among the planned events this year.

In particular, for the Provincial Sports Festival, the traditional three-day format was replaced by a 36-day event (October 24 to November 28) with the introduction of an authentication system (ID card + QR code), and dispersed scheduling by period and event, attracting 470 teams and 6,187 participants, presenting a model sports event during the With-Corona era.

To expand sports infrastructure that residents can enjoy in daily life, a budget of 30.5 billion KRW was invested in the construction of eight National Sports Centers, and 1.7 billion KRW for renovation of five centers.

The construction of a complex sports gymnasium in the western area of Jeju City is underway with a planned investment of 40.7 billion KRW, and through the opening of the Jeju Disabled Sports Center on the 29th of last month, sports activities for disabled athletes can now be actively supported.

Additionally, over the next five years (’22?’26), Jeju has established a vision for sports through the Jeju Sports Promotion Comprehensive Plan, identifying 63 tasks across seven major sectors as part of the five-year development plan for Jeju sports.

Furthermore, the dedicated training camp attraction team, including related organizations such as administration, sports associations, and education offices, has been expanded to shift from focusing on winter training camps to an all-year-round attraction system.

Ko Chun-hwa, Director of the Culture, Sports and External Cooperation Bureau of Jeju Province, stated, “We plan to make our best efforts to create conditions where all residents can safely participate in sports activities based on safety, contributing to the health and immunity enhancement of the residents.”

Meanwhile, at the end of last month, 1,147 teams and 19,609 people conducted training camps in Jeju.