KSPO Marks 35th Anniversary of 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics

About 300 people, including Chairman Cho Hyun-jae of the Korea Sports Promotion Corp. (KSPO), Chairman Chung Jin-wan of the Korea Paralympic Committee, and Secretary General Yoon Sung-wook of Korea Sport & Olympic Committee, Seoul Olympics attraction team and volunteers’ body members, attend a ceremony to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics at the Seoul Olympic Parktel in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Sept. 18. (Photos: KSPO)

The Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO) held a ceremony to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, shedding new light on the achievements of the Olympics and building an ESG collaboration regime on Sept. 18.

The anniversary event took place at the Seoul Olympic Parktel in Songpa-gu, Seoul, with about 300 people in attendance, including KSPO Chairman Cho Hyun-jae, Chairman Chung Jin-wan of the Korea Paralympic Committee, and Secretary General Yoon Sung-wook of Korea Sport & Olympic Committee, in attendance.

The event served as an opportunity for participants of the 1988 Seoul Olympics to relive and share their past experiences.

Among those who relived their past experiences from 35 years ago were former vice minister Oh Ji-chul of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, who was a member of an contingent to attract the Olympics to Seoul, who won a wresting gold medal; Vice Chairman Han Myung-woo of the Korean Wrestling Association; Chairman Lee Hyung-yong of the Seoul Olympic Volunteers’ Association; and Secretary General Kim Byung-woo of the Jeonsuk Welfare Foundation, who won a track and field silver medal at the Seoul Paralympics.

A poster to publicize the “88hagae (Sprightly) Green Festival,” an event marking the 35th anniversary of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

KSPO Chairman Cho said, “The 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, evaluated to be the most successful one in a historical perspective, was owed to the outcome of hard work by all participants of the Olympics, and we will do our utmost to preserve and spread the heritage of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.”

In order to review the achievements of the Seoul Olympics and hand over Olympic values to future generations, KSPO has been holding the “Week of Marking the 35th Anniversary of Seoul Olympics” from Sept. 17 to Sept. 24.

The 1988 Summer Green Festival took place at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, and the 35th anniversary event was held on Sept. 18. A special exhibition to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Seoul Olympics will be held at the National Assembly from Sept. 19 to Sept. 22.

Seoul Olympic Legacy Forum Selected as Public Sector Innovation Practice by OECD

The Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO) said on March 27 Seoul Olympic Legacy Forum had been selected as a public sector innovation practice by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

OECD has operated OECD-Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) since 2013 to explore public sector innovation practices contributing to solving diverse social problems of each country around the world and share them with international society.

Seoul Olympic Legacy Forum took place last October with about 200 people form the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic legacy entities around the world in attendance.

The forum suggested ways of solving long-term social issues after the Olympics and transferring intangible heritage of Olympic spirit.

It further promised to share and cooperate plans on the sustainable development of Olympic legacy.

The forum, not a transient event, had been recognized as a global sustainable program of an official development assistance format.

As a result, IOC had given “Olympic Designation Level” meaning its official patronage.

The OECD, recognizing the innovation of the hosting of Seoul Olympic Legacy Forum, based on these outcomes, had been selected as a public sector innovation practice.

KSPO Chairman Cho Hyun-jae said, “I’m sure that Seoul Olympic Legacy Forum will be a historic first step to transfer a better world to future generations through Olympic legacy, and KSPO will not spare efforts to create innovative practices people can sympathize in the future.”

Executive Vice President Park Tae-young of the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO) and TSO President Takeshi Sasaki pose after KSPO struck an MOU with TSO International, the host of SPORTEC 2023 Tokyo, to promote sport industry exchanges of both countries at Tokyo Big Sight on Aug. 2.

KSPO Teams Up with TSO to Boost Korean-Japanese Sports Industry Exchanges

The Korea Sports Promotion Foundation struck an MOU with TSO International, the host of SPORTEC 2023 Tokyo, to promote sport industry exchanges of both countries. SPORTEC Tokyo, Japan’s biggest sports and health industry fair, has been held since 2009. SPORTEC 2023 Tokyo took place in Tokyo from Aug. 2 to Aug. 4.

The signing ceremony was held at Tokyo Big Site Exhibition Hall on the opening day of SPORTEC 2023 Tokyo with KSPO Executive Vice President Park Tae-young and TSO President Takeshi Sasaki in attendance.

Both institutions, hosts of Seoul International Sports & Leisure Industry Show (SPOEX) and SPORTEC, promised to build a network related to Korean and Japanese sports companies, publicize the sports industries of both countries to foreign buyers, share the latest trends and information of the global sports industry and cooperate with each other.

KSPO set up a pavilion on SPOEX, targeting spectators, sports companies and foreign buyers, during a three-day run of SPORTEC 2023 Tokyo. KSPO plans to attract exhibitors of SPOEX 2024.

Meanwhile, SPOEX 2024 will be held at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, from Feb. 22 to Feb. 24, 2024.