Yongin City Struggles Without Volunteers Ahead of Gyeonggi-do Sports Festival

[Asia Economy (Yongin) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province is struggling to recruit volunteers ahead of the Gyeonggi-do Sports Festival, which officially begins on the 25th of next month.

Yongin City announced on the 12th that as of the end of last month, only 1,300 people (39%) applied, which is less than half of the required 3,342 volunteers. Accordingly, the city has decided to extend the volunteer recruitment period until the start of the event.

A city official stated, "The first of the four events, the Gyeonggi-do Sports Festival, will start on August 25, and the last event, the Gyeonggi-do Sports for All Festival, will begin on October 28. Perhaps because there is about a two-month gap between the first and second events, volunteer recruitment has been slow."

The official added, "We plan to hold a meeting with the event promotion committee soon to discuss countermeasures in case of a shortage of volunteers."

Volunteers will be engaged in activities such as guiding attendees at the four events, supporting opening and closing ceremonies and competitions, distributing supplies, checking and confirming environmental maintenance, managing traffic, and providing parking guidance.

Anyone aged 18 or older can participate regardless of their place of residence. Some sports categories also recruit volunteers aged between 14 and under 18.

Meanwhile, this year’s Gyeonggi-do Sports Festival consists of four events: ▲The 68th Gyeonggi-do Sports Festival 2022 Yongin (August 25?27) ▲The 12th Gyeonggi-do Disabled Sports Festival 2022 Yongin (September 1?3) ▲The 16th Gyeonggi-do Disabled Sports for All Festival 2022 Yongin (October 7?8) ▲The 33rd Gyeonggi-do Sports for All Festival 2022 Yongin (October 28?31).