As the ruling and opposition parties have agreed on a 657 trillion won budget bill, a go-related association under the Korea Sports Federation is facing a mace of 'full budget cuts', causing controversy.
According to a Cookie News report on the 21st, the Korean Go Association, an organization that operates state-supported projects for the purpose of spreading Go, expanding Go infrastructure, and creating a healthy living sports ecosystem, has been confirmed to have a budget of 'zero won' for next year. According to industry insiders, it is highly unusual for an organization that received 2.162 billion won in government funding this year to be subjected to a "full cut" rather than a partial cut.
In this regard, the office of Representative Lee Sang-heon of the Democratic Party of Korea, who chairs the National Assembly's Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee, said, "The Ministry of Strategy and Finance will not reflect the budget for this year's sports competitions in the name of 'government policy.
The budget for Go has been increasing synchronously since the 'Go Promotion Act' was passed by the extraordinary National Assembly on March 30, 2018. In 2021, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the 'Basic Plan for Go Promotion', which included the provision of 9.8 billion won in government funding for the construction of a dedicated go stadium. This amount of money was also allocated to the relocation project of the Korean Go Center in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do.
The Korean Go Organization, which includes professional players such as Shin Shin-seo, the world's No. 1 Go player, will receive 1.713 billion won in government funding this year, but will receive 1.5 billion won next year, a cut of about 200 million won. 카지노사이트777
This is in contrast to wrestling, another sport with a promotion law, which will receive the same 6.6 billion won in government support as this year. Similarly, traditional martial arts, which also has a promotion law, will receive 1.5 billion won, the same as this year. Traditional cultural sports were also allocated 150 million won, the same as the previous year.
Meanwhile, the Korean Go Association alone has seen its budget of 2.162 billion won ($2.1 billion) cut entirely, with some pointing to the 'impeachment case of the president' as the reason. This is because it has been the government's policy to reduce government funding for organizations that have been involved in legal disputes or caused incidents or accidents.
The previous president of the Korea Go Association, Seo Hyo-seok, who took office in March 2022, stepped down without completing his term of office after a motion of no confidence was passed by delegates at an extraordinary congress of delegates in July this year. Seo, who lost the presidency after the unprecedented "impeachment" wave, has filed an application for a temporary restraining order against the current president of the Korea Go Association, Chung Bong-soo.