Ministry of Culture Announces Basic Plan for Baduk Promotion, Supports Construction of Dedicated Baduk Stadium
Attracting 2030 Generation, Which Makes Up Only 9% of Baduk Population, with Differentiated Content
The Go ranking and dan system will be standardized, and an artificial intelligence (AI) skill assessment system will be introduced. Dedicated facilities, such as Go-exclusive stadiums, will also be established.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the basic plan for Go promotion, which will be carried out until 2026, on the 1st. This is the first plan based on Article 5 of the "Go Promotion Act" enacted in 2018. Based on research projects and collaboration with the Go industry, three main strategies and detailed tasks were derived.
The first goal is to establish a system and institutional foundation. To create a sustainable ecosystem, a consultative body among Go organizations will be formed, and support will be provided for institutional improvements, Go competitions, and educational facilities. The most notable change is the standardization of the ranking and dan system. To secure credibility, an AI-based skill assessment system will be developed. The expansion of the base will be achieved by constructing dedicated Go facilities. A representative example is the Go-exclusive stadium being built in Uijeongbu City, scheduled for completion in December 2023. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official stated, "It will be constructed on a 12,597㎡ site with five floors," adding, "98 billion won in national funds will be supported."
Expansion into recreational sports is also targeted. User-centered Go educational content will be developed, and education through local sports clubs will be activated. Differentiated content will be developed according to life cycles to attract the 20-30 age group, which currently accounts for only 9% of the Go population. Support for elementary school "creative experiential learning activities" will also be expanded. The Go classroom project, currently supporting six schools, will increase to sixty schools by 2026. The scope of programs such as "Areum Baduk," which involves participants with intellectual disabilities, will also be gradually expanded. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will spare no support in laying the foundation for industrialization. The focus is on discovering future growth engines by combining advanced IT technologies. The core is AI and big data. A ministry official explained, "National team players participating in next year's Hangzhou Asian Games are already training using AI," and added, "We are reviewing ways to commercialize this."
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