Training Camp Mecca! Uljin... Announces the Start of Sports Renaissance

Participation in Various Disciplines
A City at the Heart of Sports

Despite the biting cold and strong winds, the sound of bat hits has continued for several days, now entering the final stages at Jukbyeon Baseball Stadium.

In 2025, the Year of Eulsa (乙巳年), there is a young city with the clearest air and the lowest concentration of fine dust nationwide, where over 1,300 athletes from about 50 teams across five sports (soccer, volleyball, baseball, badminton, and athletics) have visited for training camps following the baseball stove league.

The place that marked the beginning of a sports renaissance is none other than Uljin.

Let’s take a look inside Uljin’s well-being sports training camps, where despite the harsh winter winds, athletes fill their bodies with intense heat and sweat.

▲ Enhancing sports competitiveness through participation in various disciplines

Uljin, with its warm East Sea coastal climate, natural ecological resources such as hot springs, forests, and the sea, and high-quality sports facility infrastructure, has attracted various training teams this year.

Soccer ? The soccer field in Onjeong-myeon, equipped with two fields that have hosted numerous national youth soccer tournaments, saw training involving 30 youth teams and about 800 participants. This training served as an opportunity to learn sportsmanship values such as communication, cooperation, and manners. Training by professional soccer teams and university soccer clubs likely served as a compass guiding young players toward their future paths.

Baseball ? The practice field of a prestigious baseball high school became a dedicated training ground. Cheongju High School, which has been coming for four years, trained in an environment focused solely on practice. Not only high school players preparing for the stove league (games held before the regular season to improve player skills and team cohesion) but also university players showed their passion.

Volleyball ? Over six days, half of the country’s female high school volleyball teams participated in the volleyball stove league. The matches, reminiscent of professional games, featured sharp serves and fiery spikes over the net, eliciting cheers every time a falling ball was saved.

Badminton ? The corporate badminton team, which has been visiting Uljin for 14 years due to its relatively mild cold and low snowfall, completed a 10-day training session. They praised the mountains and sea as excellent training facilities ideal for building basic physical strength.

Athletics ? Early in the morning, athletes quietly ran laps on the track. The first athletics training camp in Uljin moved on to weight training at the gym. This participation is expected to elevate Uljin’s sports competitiveness by aiming for diversity beyond mere focus.

With athletes from various sports visiting, Uljin has gained attention as a training destination, driving regional economic revitalization.

Based on the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s ‘2023 Domestic Travel Survey Report’ on average daily accommodation travel expenditure per person, Uljin County is expected to generate about 1.2 billion KRW in economic ripple effects through consumption at lodging and restaurants during an average stay of 10 days per team. This is anticipated to bring a boost to the local economy during the winter tourism off-season.

▲ Realizing sports tourism through differentiated incentive strategies

The reason many teams from across the country visit Uljin, the breath of Korea, is largely due to Uljin County’s unique differentiated incentives for training camps.

Based on extensive experience hosting national tournaments and managing training camps, differentiated training support funds were provided according to the length of stay to increase satisfaction and revisit rates among training teams.

Additionally, public sports facilities such as the Namuljin National Sports Center, which opened in 2024 and includes a gym and swimming pool, were offered free of charge. Discount coupons for major local tourist attractions and accommodations were also provided as part of a sports tourism strategy. This year, special focus was placed on operating and supporting stove leagues for volleyball and baseball, demonstrating a swift response to changing sports trends.

County Governor Son Byung-bok stated, “The relative regional limitations have been overcome by the opening of the Donghae Jungbu Line, improving accessibility and solidifying Uljin’s position as a sports hub visited nationwide. Based on abundant sports infrastructure, we will spare no effort in active interest and support to ensure that teams from various sports experience no inconvenience during their training camps.”

He also expressed his ambition, saying, “Beyond being a training site, we will thoroughly prepare to host 17 national tournaments secured this year and actively pursue sports marketing to usher in a sports renaissance era.”