Record Largest Team Participation in 'Jeonnam National Sports Festival' Concludes 7-Day Grand Event

Demonstrating Growth Potential as a 'Global Tourism, Sports, and Culture City'

Snack Packages Featuring 'Jeonnam Specialty Breads' and Various Promotional Booths Gain Popularity

Post-Game Cleanup and Volunteering Reflect 'Jeonnam Hospitality

The 104th National Sports Festival, featuring the largest-ever delegation of over 30,000 athletes competing over seven days, concluded its intense competition on the 19th.

Jeonnam Province, which hosted this festival, was praised for demonstrating its growth potential as a ‘global tourism, sports, and cultural city’ both domestically and internationally.

According to Jeonnam Province on the 19th, the National Sports Festival held in Jeonnam for the first time in 15 years saw a total of 29,789 participants, including 19,895 athletes and 9,894 officials from 17 cities and provinces across the country and 18 overseas countries. The competition was held across three categories?under 18, university, and general divisions?and featured 49 events.

Since Jeonnam was selected as the host for the National Sports Festival in 2018, the province, together with city and county governments, related organizations, and 2 million residents, made thorough, on-site preparations to ensure the event would be the best-ever festival of national unity and inspiration.

As a result, during the event, athletes, overseas Koreans, and spectators from across the country expressed high satisfaction, and the festival was recognized as an event that showcased Jeonnam’s potential to grow as a ‘global tourism, sports, and cultural city’ at home and abroad.

The highlight of the National Sports Festival, the opening ceremony, brilliantly portrayed the region’s future vision through a Madangnori (traditional Korean outdoor play) and musical format, utilizing cutting-edge media technologies such as a large water tank, water screen performances, and a torch relay drone show.

President Yoon Seok-yeol and the First Lady, who attended the opening ceremony, praised it as the ‘best stage ever,’ and all spectators were amazed at every moment.

About 18,000 people participated in the opening ceremony, achieving record-breaking popularity. Jeonnam Province, along with fire services, police, and volunteers, cooperated to thoroughly manage entry and exit and maintain order before, during, and after the ceremony, resulting in zero safety incidents and earning high marks for safety management.

At the banquet following the opening ceremony, when Governor Kim Young-rok proposed the Gwangju-Yeongam Autobahn project, President Yoon expressed deep interest, saying, “It can serve as a testbed for AI autonomous driving and provide opportunities for young people,” and promised to “keep a close watch” on it, raising expectations for the early realization of the ‘Southwest Region SOC New Project,’ including the Autobahn.

Snack packages featuring ‘Jeonnam specialty breads’ such as Wando abalone bread and Haenam sweet potato bread became a hot topic at the National Sports Festival opening ceremony. They were provided in some spectator seats, and those who tasted them expressed great admiration.

During the festival, 83 diverse promotional booths operated around the main stadium, Mokpo Sports Complex, attracting continuous visitor interest. These booths showcased Jeonnam’s specialized industries, including tourism, agricultural and marine specialties, ultra-powerful lasers, and excellent small and medium enterprises, as well as promotional booths from 15 cities and provinces nationwide.

Scholarship donations from overseas Korean athlete delegations also continued. The World Federation of Overseas Korean Sports Associations (President Jung Joo-hyun) awarded scholarships of 1 million won each to three promising athletes: Kang So-eun from Jeonnam Cycling High School, Oh Yoo-ra from Jeonnam Physical Education Middle School, and Kim Ye-chan in wrestling from Jeonnam Physical Education Middle School. The German Korean athlete delegation gave 1,000 euros to Song Soo-ha, a track and field athlete at Jeonnam Physical Education High School.

The Australian Korean athlete delegation donated 1 million won on the 18th to Yang Seo-woo, a judo athlete at Suncheon City Hall, as Koala sponsorship. The American Korean athlete delegation gave 1 million won each to two promising athletes: Lee Jun-seo in bowling at Mokpo Technical High School and Seo Ji-hyun in tennis at Mokpo Science University. The Philippine Korean athlete delegation also delivered mango scholarships totaling 18 million won on the 12th at Mokpo City Hall to 36 children from multicultural families, each receiving 500,000 won.

The spontaneous cheering enthusiasm of the residents presented a changed culture of the National Sports Festival. About 17,000 Jeonnam residents formed cheering squads at each venue, supporting athletes, watching games, and voluntarily participating in volunteer activities to enhance the festival’s atmosphere.

At each venue, unique cheering slogans were developed, cheering was done using tools, order was maintained, and the environment was cleaned after viewing. Their passionate cheering and volunteer work conveyed the warm hospitality of Jeonnam to the athletes and became a solid foundation for the successful hosting of the National Sports Festival.

During the festival, heartfelt preparation and warm hospitality welcomed athletes and spectators visiting Jeonnam, achieving a ‘safe festival’ and an ‘inspiring festival.’ Situation rooms were operated in various fields such as transportation, emergency medical care, environment, safety, accommodation, and food to enhance satisfaction and respond promptly and appropriately to all situations.

In particular, one-on-one dedicated management of key guests earned high praise from visitors, and the overseas Korean athlete delegations expressed that they had never experienced such hospitality before and hoped the National Sports Festival would be held again in Jeonnam next year.

Facilities were thoroughly inspected to ensure athletes could perform at their best and spectators could safely enjoy the event, and a rapid response system was activated for emergencies. Friendly guidance was provided around the opening ceremony and popular event venues to prevent traffic congestion.

Additionally, restaurants and accommodations were strictly managed so visitors to Jeonnam could enjoy the flavors of the southern region and stay comfortably. Responsible officers were appointed for each city and province to communicate closely with athlete delegations and assist smooth transportation. Daily cleanliness was maintained at venues and surrounding areas to provide a pleasant environment, protect the health of athletes and spectators, and imprint a clean and safe image of Jeonnam.

Such exemplary hosting of the festival, which earned high marks for civic and order consciousness, attracted visits from Gyeongnam Province, Gimhae City, and the 2027 Chungcheong Summer Universiade Organizing Committee to learn from Mokpo.

In the early days of the festival, Governor Kim Young-rok personally visited the Jeonnam athlete delegations at venues such as the Naju Jeonnam Cycling Stadium to cheer and encourage them.

He also sent congratulatory messages to all athletes who won medals, expressing gratitude and respect for showing the strong spirit of Jeonnam sportspeople through their fighting spirit.

The Jeonnam athlete delegation responded with remarkable achievements. After ranking 3rd overall at the 89th festival, Jeonnam had remained in the mid to lower ranks but achieved 4th place overall for the first time in 15 years.

Although the initial goal of 3rd place was not reached, Jeonnam laid the groundwork for a new leap in sports by forming a strategic team to address previously unparticipated categories and weight classes, expanding training for venue adaptation to strengthen home-ground advantage, and focusing on customized performance enhancement projects by the Jeonnam Sports Science Institute.

The festival is also expected to greatly benefit the local economy. The Jeonnam Research Institute analyzed that the event generated approximately 134.337 billion won (71.4% nationwide) in production inducement, 60.871 billion won (72.9% nationwide) in added value inducement, and about 1,478 jobs (79.2% nationwide) in employment inducement.

Governor Kim Young-rok said, “The warm-hearted residents of Jeonnam, the citizens of Mokpo, the cheering squad of over 20,000 residents, and volunteers are the main protagonists who led this National Sports Festival to success,” adding, “Going forward, Jeonnam will vigorously open the next 100 years of Korea’s future as a hub for new energy industries and advanced industries and as a mecca of world marine tourism.”

He also mentioned some regrets.

Governor Kim stated, “Some athletes experienced stomach issues, and although buses related to competitions were provided to overseas Korean athlete delegations, the provision of buses for other Jeonnam tourism needs was insufficient, causing some inconvenience,” and “some provincial assembly members attending the opening ceremony left their seats early.”

He added, “As the governor who hosted the National Sports Festival, I feel sorry to the public, residents, and the attending president for these regrettable matters.”

The 43rd National Para Sports Festival, to be held from November 3 to 8 at Mokpo Sports Complex and 38 venues across 12 cities and counties in Jeonnam, will feature about 9,000 athletes competing fiercely in 31 sports, representing their hometown’s honor.

Jeonnam Province plans to once again gather the passion and will of its 2 million residents, who showed the united strength of Jeonnam at the 104th National Sports Festival, to make the 43rd National Para Sports Festival the most successful event ever.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.