Do you know who Kim Hyung-jun is?
All of you probably know star athletes such as Son Yeon-jae or Park Tea-hwan.
However, you may not know about competitors in unpopular sports, regardless of their level of success or the number of medals they have won.
Kim Hyung-jun is a national soft tennis player. He just won two gold medals in both singles and doubles at the Incheon Asian Games. However, because soft tennis is not a popular event, Kim's talents were not even shown on TV.
As a result, his family had no choice but to watch relay broadcasts on the computer. This is the downside of the growth of Korea as a sports powerhouse.
The reality is that popular sports receive a lot of support, while less popular ones cannot even get basic aid.
There are various other examples.
The sport of curling is another less favored event in Korea. This means the national team has been given no financial support from the government to pay for food, lodging, or participating in contests.
Funding for the curling team in fact came from their coach's own pocket. Although they are all Korean national team players, many players in unpopular sports are treated unfairly.
Why has this happened? These things tend to result from our indifference. After all, since sport is a business at national level, relatively less popular games will make less profit.
As a result, broadcasters and corporations make more investment in sports that draw people's attention.
Therefore, in order to reduce these inequalities and discrimination, we need to show more interest, not only in popular sports, but also the less popular ones.
Through this, we can guarantee that players can be treated equally without the distinction of "popular and unpopular."
All of you probably know star athletes such as Son Yeon-jae or Park Tea-hwan.
However, you may not know about competitors in unpopular sports, regardless of their level of success or the number of medals they have won.
Kim Hyung-jun is a national soft tennis player. He just won two gold medals in both singles and doubles at the Incheon Asian Games. However, because soft tennis is not a popular event, Kim's talents were not even shown on TV.
As a result, his family had no choice but to watch relay broadcasts on the computer. This is the downside of the growth of Korea as a sports powerhouse.
The reality is that popular sports receive a lot of support, while less popular ones cannot even get basic aid.
There are various other examples.
The sport of curling is another less favored event in Korea. This means the national team has been given no financial support from the government to pay for food, lodging, or participating in contests.
Funding for the curling team in fact came from their coach's own pocket. Although they are all Korean national team players, many players in unpopular sports are treated unfairly.
Why has this happened? These things tend to result from our indifference. After all, since sport is a business at national level, relatively less popular games will make less profit.
As a result, broadcasters and corporations make more investment in sports that draw people's attention.
Therefore, in order to reduce these inequalities and discrimination, we need to show more interest, not only in popular sports, but also the less popular ones.
Through this, we can guarantee that players can be treated equally without the distinction of "popular and unpopular."
Park Ju Young
Student at Sungshin Girls' High School
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