Jeon Gyeong-hoon, president of the Korea Business Badminton Federation, officially declared his candidacy for the 32nd Korean Badminton Association president election. federation
Jeon Kyung-hoon (50), president of the Korea Business Badminton Federation, is running to become the head of the Korea Badminton Association. Shedding tears in response to the tears of ‘Badminton Queen’ Ahn Se-young (22, Samsung Life Insurance), she expressed her determination to lead the entire Korean badminton industry.
On the 28th, Chairman Jeon issued a press release through the badminton press corps and declared his candidacy for the presidential election of the Korea Badminton Association. Chairman Jeon said, “I was attracted to the touching performance of Ahn Se-young, the hero of Paris who brought the Olympic gold medal to Korean badminton for the first time in 28 years, and after the game, Ahn Se-young raised concerns about the association’s player injury management, player development and training methods, and competition participation. He explained the background: “I was determined to manage the association transparently while observing the remarks pointing out this.”
This afternoon, former Chairman Jeon expressed his thoughts in more detail at a press conference. Chairman Jeon said, “I saw Ahn Se-young crying after winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics and a post she posted on social media saying, ‘I sincerely hope that there are adults who can solve this situation.'” He added, “And then I cried too.” I looked back.
President Jeon said, “After that, I asked myself what an adult was and whether I could truly play that role for the entire association. By asking people around me and referring to materials, I finally got the answer and decided, ‘I want to become that adult.'” He said. This is why I decided to run for president again a year after becoming the head of the Korea Unemployment Federation in July of last year.
Ahn Se-young wipes away tears after winning the gold medal in badminton women’s singles at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 2024.8.5 Paris = Olympic Photo Joint Reporter/JI Reporter Hwang Jin-hwan
After winning the women’s singles gold medal at the Paris Olympics, Ahn Se-young criticized the association and the way the national team was managed. Accordingly, through an administrative inspection of the association, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism requested on the 31st of last month a corrective order for the association’s regulations and national team operation, as well as the dismissal of the president and severe disciplinary action for the secretary-general.
Accordingly, the association issued a press release on the 23rd and presented improvement plans, saying, “We have actively collected opinions from national team players and revised some of the absurd operating guidelines, and are coordinating opinions with product sponsors to change contract provisions.” In addition, regarding the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s point of violation of the subsidy law, the government’s position is that it has been implemented in accordance with regulations. However, on the 28th, the police began an investigation in earnest by issuing a warrant to search and seize the body of Association President Kim Taek-gyu, who is suspected of embezzlement of sponsorship items and breach of trust, and securing his cell phone.
Chairman Jeon made a pledge to provide 2.4 billion won to the association over four years. Chairman Jeon explained, “We initially thought of 2 billion won, but we increased the amount by 400 million won to equalize the amount of support for professional sports and recreational sports. We will support 300 million won in each field every year to strive for mutual development.” Chairman Jeon, who used to be a pharmacist, founded Passion Korea, a soup and rice soup franchise, in 2022 and has led it to become the number one soup and rice brand with 250 franchises nationwide.
Among past presidents of the association, former businessmen have donated donations. Lee Hyeong-do, the 24th mayor of Samsung Electro-Mechanics at the time, and Kang Young-jung, the 26th and 27th chairman of Daekyo Group, were among others. Afterwards, there was no contribution from the chairman due to large donations from supply companies such as Victor and Yonex.
Chairman Jeon also announced that he would build a dedicated stadium to host international competitions and actively participate in hosting the world championships. The plan is to provide benefits to local enthusiasts through one-to-one sponsorship agreements between companies and 17 city/provincial associations, and to also attract leagues in the metropolitan area to increase national interest.
Regarding this, Chairman Jeon said, “I started playing badminton when I was a pharmacist at the recommendation of a customer, and I fell in love with it to the point where I traveled from Jamsil, Seoul to Uijeongbu to exercise.” He added, “I was wondering what I could do for badminton, which I love so much, and decided to sponsor an unemployment league. “I even became the president of the federation,” he looked back. He continued, “I have decided to take on the challenge of becoming the president of the association in order to help badminton on a larger scale,” and added, “I am confident that we can achieve mutual growth as I am familiar with both elite and everyday sports while working as the president of an industrial federation and as a club member.”
A commemorative photo taken last year after Chairman Jeon Kyung-hoon gave encouragement money to the badminton team at the Hangzhou Asian Games. federation
In the next presidential election, Wonkwang University professor Kim Dong-moon, a former Olympic gold medalist, announced his intention to run, while current Chairman Kim Taek-gyu is also expected to run for re-election. Professor Kim, a former athlete, is expected to receive support from people in the game, and Chairman Kim is expected to receive support from club members.
Accordingly, since the former president only served as president of the Business Federation for about a year, it is assessed that his awareness among badminton players who have voting rights is relatively low. Regarding this, Chairman Jeon expressed confidence, saying, “I will meet several key people next week,” and “I think my sincerity to lead the association fairly, without interest or self-interest, will prevail.”
The election for the president of the Korea Badminton Association is receiving more attention than ever due to Ahn Se-young’s remark. It remains to be seen who will be the new head of Korean badminton on January 16th next year.
