On the spot
Hyung-joo Ha
President, Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO)
The cities of Seoul & PyeongChang will host the annual week of events of the World Union of Olympic Cities and smartcities & sport in October 2025. The Union warmly thanks KSPO for welcoming its Members and the participants of the summit. What message would you like to share with the Members of the Union?
Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO) is honored with the opportunity to invite the World Union of Olympic Cities’ members from all over the world to the cities of Seoul & PyeongChang, in the Republic of Korea in October 2025. This year is particularly significant as the two cities will be co-hosting the event for the first time in the Union’s history. We would like to express our deep gratitude in advance to the members who will visit the Republic of Korea. KSPO will do its best to make your stay special and meaningful.
There are two main messages that we would like to convey through this event. First, the Union is a global platform that goes beyond connecting sports and cities to discuss the sustainable development of the Olympic legacy and share best practices in sustainable development. The 1988 Seoul Olympics were a historic event that dramatically changed the Republic of Korea; it was an important moment that proved the noble value of the Olympics. KSPO, which has been managing the legacy of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, would like to share our experience with you and learn about the legacy management practices of each city as well. We look forward to sharing our experiences and knowledge with each other and working with the esteemed participants to create a model that can provide a healthy and sustainable environment for future generations. Second, we want to demonstrate through Seoul that “smart city” is a concept essential to not only making our lives more convenient but also creating a sustainable future. Through the experience of urban development since the 1988 Olympics, Seoul has been transformed into a smart space where everyone can enjoy sports and culture. The Seoul Olympic Park, managed by KSPO, showcases this development and will provide you with the opportunity to experience smart technology and infrastructure first-hand when you visit the Republic of Korea.
Together with the Union, KSPO is ready to expand the positive influence of the Olympic legacy and work with you for sustainable sports and urban future. Once again, we would like to thank all of you for joining us at this event, and we look forward to meeting you.
The Republic of Korea hosted the 1988 Summer Olympic Games, the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, and the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games. This exceptional Olympic activity has left a lively and diverse legacy. How does KSPO build upon the Korean Olympic history to promote sport & physical activity?
The 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and the 2024 Gangwon Youth Winter Olympics have been historical achievements that symbolize the social and economic development of the Republic of Korea. As a managing body established after the 1988 Seoul Olympics for the systematic management of the Olympic legacy, KSPO has made various efforts to spread the values of the Olympic Games to everyone from future generations to senior citizens.
As a public institution established under the National Sports Promotion Act after the 1988 Seoul Olympics, KSPO manages the tangible and intangible legacy of the Olympic Games and promotes sports and physical activities through encouraging people’s participation in sports, revitalization of the sports industry, sports policy and scientific research, and international sports exchanges. KSPO itself can be said to be the Olympic legacy of the Republic of Korea.
KSPO’s representative initiatives for promoting sports participation include ‘National Fitness 100’, ‘Sports Incentive Point’, and ‘Sports Voucher’. First of all, ‘National Fitness 100’ provides barrier-free, free-of-charge measurements of physical fitness and customized exercise regimens to all citizens through 47 centers nationwide, and strives to realize the goal of ‘Let’s live healthy until the age of 100’. Secondly, ‘Sports Incentive Point, implemented as an incentive for sports activity, is a special sports promotion program unique to the Korean government to promote sports activities. When people exercise in certified facilities, mileage accumulates, which can be used to purchase sporting goods, register for sports facilities, or make payments in pharmacies and hospitals. Finally, ‘Sports Voucher’ is a program for children from low-income families and all persons with disabilities. It supports those who are restricted from sports activities for economic reasons, allowing anyone to enjoy sports without financial burden.
In addition to the initiatives described above, KSPO is working relentlessly to create an environment where people can easily access sports in their daily lives through the expansion of regional sports facilities and the operation of the sports-for-all program.
In addition, because human resources are very important in creating an ecosystem to promote sports activities, KSPO operates sports talent training programs for sports administrators like us and consultancy and business start-up support programs to facilitate sports startups and SMEs. Furthermore, KSPO recently opened a ‘Sports Value Center’ to create social value through sports, and the youth sports camps and experiential activities conducted by the Sports Value Center are supported by the national government. Through this, we have reaffirmed that sports value education is essential for future generations, and we plan to further enhance efforts in this regard in the future.
Finally, as an Olympic legacy management entity, KSPO hosted the Seoul Olympic Legacy Forum in 2022 and 2024 to invite global Olympic governing bodies to Seoul and provide a platform for sports policy sharing, networking, and experiencing Korean culture.
These various efforts have produced significant achievements such as improving people’s participation in sports for life (27.2% in 1989 → 60.7% in 2024) and dramatically increasing the number of public sports facilities (689 facilities in 1988 → 37,176 facilities in 2024).
Looking forward, KSPO will continue to promote sport and physical activity for the quality of life and take the lead in spreading sustainable sports values.
KSPO is dedicated to promoting sport nationwide. What are the means of action that KSPO activates to achieve such missions?
KSPO is responsible for the overall sports in the Republic of Korea and is making various efforts under the slogan: ‘healthy and happy Korea through sports’. Since the Seoul Olympic Legacy Project in 1988, our activities have been focused on various fields such as raising the rate of sports participation, promotion of the sports industry, research on sports policy and science, international sports exchanges, and support for disabled sports.
The core of all these activities is the National Sports Promotion Fund, which KSPO created through its own profit-making business projects. KSPO has been serving as a public institution under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism since the 1988 Seoul Olympics. KSPO has provided necessary resources through projects such as the sports betting business (Sports Toto), bicycle racing, and motorboat racing. Through these projects, we have generated a total of USD 18.9339 billion by 2023, and we provide approximately USD 2 billion each year to national sports projects, the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC), sports organizations, and local governments where sports finance is needed.
In particular, the National Sports Promotion Fund accounts for more than 98% of the national sports finance and contributes greatly to creating an environment where anyone can enjoy sports freely, anytime and anywhere.
In addition, we have continuously promoted the performance evaluation and accounting verification system for the National Sports Promotion Fund to ensure transparency in sports finance. Through this, we have built expertise and reliability as a sports finance management institution and have developed into a public sports institution that goes beyond mere sports promotion and provides clean and efficient financial management.
KSPO recently joined the Union as an Affiliate Member. What are your expectations regarding the association and what would you like to share with the Union’s members?
We sincerely extend our thanks to all the Union officials and members who have welcomed KSPO as an Affiliate Member. As one of the Olympic legacy entities, KSPO officially became an affiliate member of WUOC in 2024. We were especially pleased to hear that the Union welcomed us into its new category called the Affiliate Member for Olympic legacy entities.
The cooperation between KSPO and the Union will begin with the 2025 Annual event in Seoul and PyeongChang, and we are doing our best to make your visit to the Republic of Korea a meaningful and valuable time.
KSPO looks forward to working with the Union to exchange innovative ideas and best practices through WUOC’s global network and further develop our know-how in Olympic heritage management and sports promotion. Furthermore, working with our members, we hope to develop more comprehensive and viable solutions and contribute to building a sustainable Olympic legacy.
The leader of KSPO at present, I was a judo medalist at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Like anyone who loves sports, I am well aware that sports have the power to transform our lives and societies in a healthy way. Based on this, we will work closely with the Union family to spread the values of sports and create a sustainable future.
Finally, KSPO would like to ask for the attention and support from the Union’s members and will do its best to strengthen its position as a trusted partner organization. We look forward to working with you to build a sustainable Olympic legacy.
Thank you.