Honam Marginalized Even in Sports Sector...Urgent Need for Improvement

Only 17.4% of National Sports Promotion Fund Allocated to Honam
Gwangju Ranks Among the Lowest of 17 Local Governments Nationwide
Min Hyungbae Criticizes Sports Sector for Focusing on Seoul Metropolitan and Yeongnam Regions

Min Hyungbae

It has been found that only 17.4% of the National Sports Promotion Fund was allocated to the Honam region. This indicates that the marginalization of Honam is evident even in the sports sector.

According to Min Hyungbae, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Gwangsan-eul), who received data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the "Status of National Sports Promotion Fund Budget Support by Region over the Past Five Years (2020-2024)," out of a total of 1.41953 trillion won, only 246.815 billion won was allocated to the Honam region.

This amount is less than one-fifth of the entire budget.

During the same period, the Seoul metropolitan area received the largest share at 394.265 billion won (27.8%), while the Yeongnam region secured 388.079 billion won (27.3%), with each accounting for nearly one-third of the total budget.

The Honam region's allocation dropped from 69.622 billion won in 2020 to 31.659 billion won in 2024, decreasing to less than half over five years.

A more detailed breakdown of National Sports Promotion Fund allocations by region during this period reveals even starker disparities.

By region, Gyeonggi Province received the most with 284.168 billion won, accounting for 20.0% of the total fund. This was followed by Gyeongnam with 153.237 billion won (10.8%), Chungnam with 111.834 billion won (7.9%), Jeonbuk with 103.09 billion won (7.3%), and Gyeongbuk with 100.217 billion won (7.1%). Sejong City received the least at 12.19 billion won (0.9%), with a gap of about 23 times compared to Gyeonggi Province, the region that benefited the most. Gwangju (45.141 billion won) ranked fifth from the bottom among the 17 local governments.

The distribution of public sports facilities showed a similar pattern. Of the 37,176 facilities nationwide, the Yeongnam region had the most with 11,759 facilities, accounting for 31.6% of the total. This was followed by the Seoul metropolitan area with 9,376 facilities (25.2%), the Honam region with 6,726 facilities (18.1%), the Chungcheong region with 5,686 facilities (15.3%), and Gangwon and Jeju with 3,629 facilities (9.8%).

Min Hyungbae stressed, "Even in the sports sector, the infrastructure and government policy and budget management remain centered on the Seoul metropolitan and Yeongnam regions. The government, especially the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, must take the lead in preparing fundamental measures so that all citizens, not just certain regions, can benefit equally."