Seoul:South Korea inaugurated its first national museum dedicated to sports, housing around 70,000 items that chronicle the country's athletic achievements from early marathon victories to the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the National Sports Museum of Korea was established by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation. It aims to exhibit Korean sporting history and systematically collect and preserve sports heritage from both domestic and international sources.
The museum is situated in a six-story building with two basement floors at Olympic Park in southern Seoul. It features notable items such as the gold medal won by Korean marathoner Suh Yun-bok at the 1947 Boston Marathon, soccer shoes from Korean football pioneer Kim Yong-sik, and the wrestling uniform of Yang Jung-mo, South Korea's first Olympic gold medalist. Visitors can also see the torch from the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and the hoop used in the opening ceremony.
The opening ceremony was attended by approximately 150 people, including Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Chae Hwi-young, significant figures from the sports and cultural sectors, and donors of sports artifacts. In his congratulatory speech, Minister Chae emphasized the role of sports in preserving national identity, even during times when the nation was deprived of sovereignty. He stated that the museum will be a valuable space for preserving and passing on the records and heritage of Korean sports to future generations.
Ha Hyung-joo, chairman of the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, expressed his hopes for the museum to serve as a hub connecting sports and cultural facilities nationwide. He envisioned it as a place where future generations can learn the values of challenge and respect and as a starting point for remembering the illustrious past of South Korean sports while striving for an even greater future.