Chairman of the Yoo Seung Min Sports Council, "I was an athlete..."I can't blame the environment for being tired"
Chairman of the Yoo Seung Min Sports Council, "I was an athlete..."I can't blame the environment for being tired"
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About two months have passed since the inauguration of Yoo Seung Min (43), the 42nd chairman of the Korea Sports Council. Yoo Seung Min, who beat Lee Ki-heung, who is seeking his third term in the election for the chairman in January, was hailed as an icon of "sports reform" from the moment he was elected.
Yoo Seung Min officially took office on Feb. 28 and began his term in office. What was Yoo Seung Min's experience in sports associations over the past two months?
Early this month, he met with Yoo Seung Min at the chairman's office in Seoul's Songpa district. Yoo, whose voice is heavily hoisted, cleaned his throat and coughed while he was talking. He met countless people without a day off and was talking passionately.
In the middle of this month, the Sports Ethics Center asked for disciplinary action against Chairman Yoo Seung Min, sparking controversy over Chairman Yoo. It is pointed out that Chairman Yoo Seung Min's incentive to executives who have drawn sponsorship companies when he was the president of the Korea Table Tennis Association is a violation of the articles of association that "executive officers cannot be paid."
Yoo Seung Min has made several official apologies for the violation, and said he will be disciplined based on the results of the Korea Table Tennis Association's Sports Fair Committee. "I will not hide or avoid controversy." However, the current regulations such as the articles of incorporation need to be changed to suit the reality," he said.
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's budget has been drastically reduced
In 2024, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism provided 440 billion won (14.6 million U.S. dollars) to the sports association. This year, however, it is different. This year, the ministry increased the sports budget to 1.675 trillion won (1.5 billion dollars), but the budget to be provided to the association is expected to be reduced to 290 billion won (250 million dollars). This is because the ministry has changed the budget to direct execution of a considerable amount of money.
The sharp cut in the sports association's budget is not irrelevant to the sharp confrontation between the former chairman Lee Ki-heung and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
"I'm frustrated," Yoo Seung Min said. "I came to the sports club with high expectations after I was elected, and the challenge is that I have to make the budget."
In the end, he said, "We have to emphasize that the association has to run its own profitable business. It is a way to go independently and autonomously." Chairman Yoo Seung Min assigned the marketing office directly to the chairman with the goal of increasing the association's own profits more aggressively, which was around 8.6 billion won as of last year.
He said it was a difficult situation in many ways, but he would not make excuses. "I used to be an athlete. Athletes should not blame external environment," Yoo Seung Min said. "Do you think it makes sense to make an excuse to ruin games because of jet lag? I don't want to blame others or make excuses. I will do my best to give the best performance in a given environment."
Immediately after taking office, Yoo Seung Min visited all of the top partners (official sponsors of Grade 1). He said, "Former presidents have never visited top partners in person. I moved to visit them myself, and as a result, some sponsors succeeded in raising the amount of sponsorship."
It's a young and new sports day
Upon inauguration, Yoo Seung Min started a strong drive for reform of the association. The appointment was quite shocking even. With Secretary-General Kim Nam-i becoming the first female secretary-general in the 105-year history of the association, 14 female executives above the managerial level were appointed.
Chairman Yoo Seung Min also explained the personnel appointment by saying, "Women won more medals in the Korean Olympics." It did not simply mean that he would give preference to women, but it reflected his will not discriminate between genders if he is talented and passionate. Last year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's high-intensity audit continued and public criticism arose, which meant to change the somewhat stagnant atmosphere and motivate employees.
His willingness to take care of leaders who have not received much attention so far by establishing a support team for athletes under the Jincheon Training Center is also notable. He said, "Leaders are alienated. When a friction with a player occurs despite the poor treatment, only the leader is criticized. There are not only national team leaders, but most leaders are often not satisfied with either money or honor. I will take care of the underprivileged leader." Tour meetings of local sports associations are also being held.
The controversial Sports Fairness Committee was also changed. The Sports Fairness Commission approves the qualifications of the heads of sports organizations, including the chairman of the sports committee, for more than three consecutive terms, and there has been controversy that the chairman of the sports committee directly exerts influence on the composition of the members. The new chairman of the sports fair committee was appointed by Lee Young-jin, a former chief justice of the Constitutional Court. At the second board meeting held on the 22nd, it was decided to block the chairman of the sports committee from serving three consecutive terms. 카지노사이트
There are a lot of restrictions
Chairman Yoo Seung Min expressed his grievances, saying, "The limitations of public institutions' work were clear." This is because the Korea Sports Council, a public institution, must follow the law on the operation of public institutions.
Chairman Yoo Seung Min sighed, "For example, when conducting a team support project with national subsidies, there are many restrictions such as having to bid the lowest price and having to purchase goods only through Nara Market. Players need the best quality sports equipment, but when they follow the regulations, they have no choice but to supply low-cost products. There are so many complaints from sports sites about that."
Another goal is to get a flexible response from the government to the sports budget. School sports, which Chairman Yoo Seung Min has emphasized the most since he was a candidate, are also closely related to this budget issue.
Chairman Yoo Seung Min emphasized, "If you spend some of your education tax on projects related to physical education and drop off the related budget to the sports association, we can operate really well. It is the Korea Sports Association that has the best sports education experts, the best field experience talents, and knows the sports education management system best."
He said, "I am persuading lawmakers and government officials by meeting them one by one and making these claims. Of course, most people snort, "Does it make sense? But I'll try until I can."
Yoo Seung Min said, "We should start with elementary school first. We should learn more than one sport from an early age by starting with a 'Ilgyo Diary' (in which students are intensively taught in one sport per school). Sports associations can take the lead in participating in that. I will persuade the Ministry of Education by running on my feet to get this started. Since I took office, I have met with superintendents of education in succession to discuss this issue."
Furthermore, Chairman Yoo Seung Min said, "The budget allocated by the Ministry of Culture to the Sports Council comes from the National Sports Promotion Fund. It is the proceeds of Sports Toto. Sports Toto is a business based on Korean sports, so wouldn't it be right for the sports community to receive more profits from this? It is important for the sports association to release the blocked budget, not to insist."
"It could take years to change the laws that are needed. However, I will continue to talk and make noise so that Korean sports can be broadened," he said. There are a number of difficulties in working as the head of a public institution, but if the rules of the game change, I will have to modify and change them accordingly. I am not the only one doing this. We are with outstanding sports association employees," he said with a smile.