October 5 is “World Korean Day” established in 2007. Before and after this day, there is a festival where overseas Koreans gather in one place to strengthen friendship. It is the 20th anniversary of the “Korean National Football Competition by the Minister of Culture and Sports.” It has continued every year except for three years of suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this year, the 17th edition of the competition is being held in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province from October 3-6. It coincided with the period of the Hongcheon Ginseng and Korean Beef Festival.
This year, 30 teams from 12 countries and 13 teams from Korea participated in the competition, which was divided into youth, middle-aged and silver teams. The silver plus team, in which players aged 70 or older participate, will play in a group with women’s teams.
Players had a neck-and-neck race from the first day, but after the game ended, they hugged and encouraged each other. This is because they know how much they have looked forward to this year’s event. “Thirty years after I immigrated, I was able to come back to my home country thanks to the Korean National Football Championship,” said Shin Pil-beom of the New York team. “I was embarrassed because the whole area of Seodaemun, my hometown, has changed so much, but I was very proud to see my home country developing day by day.” A couple also participated in a competition to make their wife’s wish come true after being diagnosed with cancer, and visited their home country for the first time in 37 years.
Early in the competition, the first generation of overseas Koreans, including the dispatched miners’ team and the Argentinian immigrant team, participated in the event. Recently, an increasing number of second and third generations of immigrants are participating in soccer festivals held in their parents’ country. “I went to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) before the competition. It was a good experience to learn about the situation of the division of North and South Korea and Korean culture,” said Edward Yu, the goalkeeper of the Seattle Mariners team.
Overseas Korean participants only pay round-trip tickets. During the competition, board and operation expenses, and refereeing expenses will be fully covered by the Korea Football Association (Chairman Kim Sung-soo). Although the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and host local governments have provided budgetary support since 2015, Chairman Kim has been continuing the competition at his own expense. This is because the budget alone is not enough to accommodate 1,000 participants, including athletes and judges.
Born in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, Kim made himself a self-made home due to the housing construction project. He graduated from a university and graduate school after going through qualification examinations and coming from a poor family. While studying at Chung-Ang University’s Graduate School of Theater and Film, he also appeared in more than 10 dramas including “Han Myung-hoe (1994)” as a KBS talent. In the drama, he played the role of butler for “Han Myung-hoe” (Lee Deok-hwa), and was a soccer fanatic as the cast members played soccer matches while wearing straw shoes.
Chairman Kim was caught up in Korean national soccer while leading a soccer team to a concert in Chicago in 2004. “A few Korean American and Mexican teams gathered for a soccer competition, and they called it ‘Korean national soccer.’ The concert drew 10,000 Korean residents. I felt so sad because I was so hungry for affection. After the competition, Korean residents held my hand and appealed to me to continue the competition. “We have to do it in Korea if we want to gather overseas Koreans. We will help them from behind,” Kim recalled.
Accidents like this and that also occurred in the early days. There were quite a few cases where players who were excited to visit their home country for the first time in a long time came out drinking alcohol on the eve of the game. “Now, all stadiums have ambulances and paramedics on standby, but in the early days, we were worried that there might be an accident during the game,” Chairman Kim said.
The opening ceremony of the event was held at Tori Forest in Hongcheon County, the site of the Korean beef festival. The venue was filled with cheers from some 1,000 participants, residents of Hongcheon County and hundreds of people grilling Korean beef. It is customary to deliver congratulatory messages at local events through a 讀 or a video message. On the day, Gangwon Province Governor Kim Jin-tae and National Assemblyman Yoo Sang-beom delivered congratulatory messages in person. Cho Hyun-jae, chairman of the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, and Kim Jeong-bae, vice chairman of the Korea Football Association, played in person. Kim Byung-ji, CEO of Gangwon FC, presented soccer supplies. 메이저놀이터
Lee Deok-hwa, the honorary chairman of the tournament, said, “I had a big accident 40 years ago and my body was shattered, but I hope that people who come to the competition will feel love for my country through soccer and live a healthy life,” receiving a big round of applause. Hongcheon County Governor Shin Young-jae expressed his gratitude, saying, “Hongcheon, a mountainous and clear water, became known to the world through the Korean National Football Championship.”
Chairman Kim Sung-soo said, “Many people crossed the Pacific Ocean to make a living in the 1960s and 1970s, and spent many years as illegal immigrants in other countries. After all the hardships, I was able to come to my hometown with a green card, but there were many people who had no place to go because their parents and brothers died. The Korean national soccer tournament provides them with an opportunity to visit their home country and hometown. I hope more people will participate and conduct various sports in the future.”