"Times of Claiming National Prestige Just by Winning Gold Medals Are Over"
"Gold Medals Still Contribute to National Prestige"
On the 24th, the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, were photographed using the 'zooming' technique. [Photo by Yonhap News]
A post expressing the wish that the Korean delegation would not win any gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics sparked a heated debate among netizens.
On the 28th, an anonymous office worker community, Blind, featured a post stating, "I hope the Korean delegation does not win a single Olympic gold medal."
The post was written by a public official, Mr. A, who lamented, "Some people have to deal with 100 citizens a day and process dozens of official documents for 30 years just to receive a pension of 1.3 million won. But I don't understand why they give pensions just because someone wins a gold medal in sports." He added, "I don't see how an Olympic gold medal contributes to society." He further pointed out, "If the athlete is capable, they should prepare with private sponsorship, but in reality, local governments form teams and pay salaries. Our city also has hockey, handball, and table tennis teams, and the athletes belonging to those teams had too many demands."
After the post was published, a debate erupted among netizens. The majority of netizens responded critically to Mr. A with comments such as, "You must not understand how much a gold medal contributes to national prestige," "Not just anyone can be number one in the world," "Then why don't you win a gold medal yourself," and "You should also consider how it makes the people happy."
On the other hand, some sympathized with Mr. A, saying, "The era when gold medals boost national prestige is over," "There are too many pensions for gold medalists," and "Olympic viewership ratings are low anyway."
As of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, gold medalists reportedly receive a monthly pension of 1 million won and a prize of 63 million won. Silver medalists receive a pension of 750,000 won and a prize of 35 million won, while bronze medalists receive a monthly pension of 525,000 won and a prize of 25 million won.
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