“Now the world of sports is completely trapped in the past. I want to make our country’s sports healthy in any way possible.”
Kang Shin-wook (68), who challenged the 42nd president of the Korea Sports Council, stressed that the election is an important opportunity to reform and develop the sports world.
In a recent interview with The Daily, Kang diagnosed Korean sports as a “serious crisis.” “The sports community is stuck in the past and has not been able to take a step forward,” he said. “The morality, which should be the most basic, is a problem.”
Candidate Kang stressed that there is no future for Korean sports if the Korean Sports Council does not change now. “Now the Korean Sports Council is completely privatized and incompetent. There are even a lot of talks about internal corruption,” he said. “As a result, many problems that will affect the lives of sportsmen are being neglected or neglected repeatedly.”
Kang is an athlete from the very heart of his life. He was involved in soccer and baseball teams when he was a student, and was a hockey player while he was a student at Seoul National University’s Sports Education Department. After graduating from college, he worked as a physical education teacher at Jeonnong Girls’ Middle School and Yongsan High School, where he served as the coach of the hockey team. 스포츠토토
Since his appointment as a professor of international sports at Dankook University in 1989, he has been more socially active. He has been active in various sports organizations, including co-representative of the Sports Citizens’ Solidarity (2005-2013), president of the Korean Sports Association (2016-2017), and director of the Korean Sports Association (2017).
In 2021, he ran for the 41st president of the Korean Sports Council, receiving 25.7 percent of support, the second highest after current chairman Lee Ki-heung. After retiring from Dankook University in 2021, he became an honorary professor, but he is still actively speaking out externally.
One of the things that Kang cares most about, who is running for the second election for the president of the Korea Sports Council, is the revitalization of the local sports association and the revival of the system for fostering sports organizations. This is directly related to the budget issue. He pointed out, “The local sports association has a thirst for the minimum legal mechanism to receive a certain percentage of the budget from local governments.”
He also said, “Athletic organizations are also complaining of budget difficulties. It feels like the system to nurture national athletes is paralyzed,” and stressed, “We need to revive the faltering development system while urgently addressing the improvement of economic and social treatment of sports leaders across the country.”
He also expressed his stance on unification of candidates. “It is impossible to conduct an objective survey on athletes at this point,” Kang said, adding that he clearly drew a line on unification of candidates through public opinion polls. “We need to think about unification in a more sober and objective manner.”
Candidate Kang will begin his official campaign in earnest after registering as a candidate on the 24th. “In order to set up the Korean Sports Council right, his experience and expertise must be supported,” he said. “If a person who has not done such a thing suddenly comes forward to change the organization and system, it could be like “a robbery while trying to avoid a thief.”
“I think it is my historical calling to win the election of the president of the Korea Sports Council,” he said, adding, “I want to return the Korea Sports Council, which has been loosened so far, to a positive direction.”
