新年专访 Gyeonggi Province Persons with Disabilities Sports Association Executive Director Baek Gyeong-yeol

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Um In-yong] Baek Gyeong-yeol, Executive Director of the Gyeonggi Province Persons with Disabilities Sports Association, stated, "Over the past year, thanks to the sweat and passion of athletes, coaches, and related personnel who did their best in their respective positions for the development of Gyeonggi Province disability sports, Gyeonggi Province disability sports was able to grow to the next level," adding, "In the new year, I will do my best to realize the values of an integrated society through the activation of disability sports and enable athletes to pursue their dreams in a fair and safe environment." He further emphasized, "Through balanced development from community sports to professional sports, I will create a Gyeonggi Province where everyone can find happiness through sports."

The following is a question-and-answer session.

▲ What is the direction and policy of Gyeonggi Province Persons with Disabilities Sports Association in 2026?

- In accordance with Governor Kim Dong-yeon, Chairman of the Gyeonggi Province Persons with Disabilities Sports Association, directing that priority be given to "improving the lives of struggling residents," I will prioritize expanding sports participation opportunities for persons with disabilities and improving their quality of life and reflect this in various projects. Just as the governor's New Year message states, "I am a Gyeonggi Province resident," the Gyeonggi Province Persons with Disabilities Sports Association will take the lead in creating a Gyeonggi Province where all persons with disabilities want to live.

▲ What are the new or priority projects for 2026?

- I will actively participate in practicing ESG management through digital transformation. Through the development of our association's website system, I will computerize existing administrative work and, with the full implementation of the local subsidy management system (Botaem), convert the settlement system to an online method to enable systematic and efficient work at project sites.

To provide equal participation opportunities for athletes with disabilities in the northern region whose access to sports participation is relatively limited due to environmental characteristics, we plan to expand the scale of participation in the "2026 2nd Gyeonggi Northern Persons with Disabilities Sports Festival." To this end, we will increase the number of events and participants from last year's 3 events and 325 people to 5 events and approximately 600 people.

Due to the financial and human resource limitations of disability sports organizations, the need for operational support has emerged to enable affiliated organizations to perform their roles systematically and stably. Accordingly, we will work to stabilize overall office operations through quarterly checks on administrative subsidy implementation and subsidy application requests and regularization of customized job training by position for affiliated organization executives and staff. We will also expand the per-event support budget for the Governor's Cup/President's Cup from last year's 19 million to 34.2 million won to 23 million to 35 million won to provide more stable support for tournament operations.

▲ What are the plans to improve support for excellent athletes and coaches and to support full-time sports coaches?

- As the level of domestic disability sports has improved, the importance and necessity of securing excellent disabled athletes and fostering basic strategy events has increased. Accordingly, I will improve the rating and support methods for excellent athletes and coaches. To this end, I will revise the support amount, which was S Grade (2 million won), A Grade (1 million won), B Grade (500,000 won), and C Grade (300,000 won) last year. This year, C Grade will be abolished, S Grade (2 million won) and A Grade (1 million won) will remain the same, while B Grade will be increased by 300,000 won to 800,000 won.

In addition, to address disparities in athlete development capacity and human resources by county and city due to geographic characteristics within Gyeonggi Province, I will refine the qualification standards for hiring qualified full-time sports coaches and restructure the compensation system. To this end, I will change last year's seniority-based position system to an annual salary system with a four-level structure starting this year.

▲ What is the "Opportunity Game Viewing Pass" support project?

- This year, I will continue to implement the "Opportunity Game Viewing Pass" support project to expand viewing opportunities for sports-vulnerable groups, while supporting group viewing so that persons with disabilities in the province can realize social values through sports and diversifying promotional methods.

Accordingly, the Opportunity Game Viewing Pass will provide 10,000 won support for admission tickets to professional sports games within the province (4 types of clubs with ties to the province, such as soccer). For reference, last year, a total of 13,604 people (9,348 persons with disabilities and 4,256 companions) received support.

▲ What are the plans for expanding workplace sports team events and recruiting personnel?

- I will expand the operational scale through player recruitment and the establishment of new events and provide housing stability support for newly recruited players. To this end, we plan to recruit 11 outstanding players from other cities and provinces and establish a track and field team (4 members/1 track member and 3 field members).

In addition, to strengthen competitive performance, we will recruit national team-level players and strengthen team competition competitiveness through strategic matching with existing players, while also providing housing costs such as monthly rent within a maximum of 500,000 won per person to create a basic environment for stable settlement and secure the stability of mid- to long-term squad operations.