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| Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il, left, and former LPGA star Pak Se-ri pose after signing a business agreement for the development of sports and culture in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. Courtesy of Yongin Special City |
Mayor Lee vows to enhance lives of Yongin citizens through golf
By Sah Dong-seok
Former professional golfer Pak Se-ri is pushing ahead with a plan to create a golf R&D center and a theme park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
Pak, the CEO of Baz International, signed a business agreement to this effect on Monday with Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il at the city's convention hall.
Under the agreement, Pak, the golf star-turned-businesswoman, will use Baz International to seek a variety of sports promotions and cultural businesses, including the golf R&D center and the theme park.
The facilities to be created by Pak will become a venue where culture, sport and art will mingle together, thereby enabling the public as well as both elite and amateur athletes to enjoy sports, city officials said.
Pak, a first-generation golf legend who won 25 Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) trophies, plans to establish a Golf Hall of Fame in Yongin, which will embrace players of the PGA, LPGA and Asia, and attract investment in golf and other industries from domestic and foreign companies.
The Yongin government promised to provide all kinds of administrative support to help create a sports and leisure environment for 1.1 million citizens and lure international golf organizations to the city, some 50 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
Mayor Lee and CEO Pak have a special relationship. Lee was the sole head of a local government who was invited to the gala dinner of the LG Electronics Seri Pak World Match held in Incheon last September.
The charity golf event drew LPGA stars such as Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa, Cristie Kerr, Laura Davies and Yani Tseng as well as Korean golfers, including Kim Hyo-joo, Park Min-ji, Park Hyun-kyung and Lim Hee-jeong. In return, Mayor Lee invited Pak and officials of Baz International to a dinner last November to discuss ways to cooperate.
During her visit to the city on March 3, Pak praised Yongin for having the best conditions necessary to nurture golf talent and spread golf culture and reaffirmed her resolve to push for the proposed projects.
Before signing the business agreement on Monday, Baz International unveiled the concrete blueprint concerning the golf R&D center, the theme park and the Golf Hall of Fame through its presentation.
"It's very meaningful for Yongin and Baz International to agree to cooperate actively to nurture young golfers, enhance the lives of the public through golf and help promote leisure in the lives of 1.1 million citizens," Mayor Lee said.
"If we join forces, we will be able to do creative work in sports and culture that can be envied by other regions."
Pak said, "In industrialized countries where the environment for sports for all is good, people can gain access to sports naturally. As Mayor Lee is of great help in letting elite sports and sports for all coexist, this agreement will serve as good momentum for Korean sports."
Meanwhile, Baz International is gearing up to push for various projects, including hosting junior golf championships. Pak also plans to hold the opening game of next year's KLPGA in the American West.
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