Power of Sports in Korea

After watching the YMCA Baseball, I found it a coincidence to find this article on joongang daily.joins. com. The article, written by Pat King Deputy Editor, discussed one of the most crucial, momentous, monumental moments in Korean sports. It wasn’t the World Cup in 2002 or the 1988 Olympics. The important event which he mentions is the 1936 Olympics which took place in Berlin. This momentous occasion was also described in Gwang Ok’s book, “The Transformation of Modern Korean Sport: Imperialism, Nationalism, Globalization”, which focuses on the connection between sport, religion, and nationalism and how sports evolved during the times of “Japanese invasion, oppression, and control”.

King writes that sports, to Koreans, were more than simply games but rather a means of preserving their nationalism, individuality, Korean identity, and independent spirit. The article highlights the 1936 Olympics when a Korean marathon runner named Son Gi-jeong won first place. Still, the event was not all happy for Son as he recounted the award ceremony with resentment due to the fact that he was forced to wear a symbol of the Japanese flag on his uniform. He stated later on that he felt “desperate and ashamed. . . wearing a shirt with the Japanese rising sun on the left chest” . The Korean citizens were bothered by this as well and we see this when the Dong-a Daily, a domestic newspaper, publishing the same picture except they altered the Japanese flag on Son’s uniform. Gwang’s continued to identify himself as a Korean and this act against “Japanese propaganda”, provided as almost a “moral-booster” for the Korean citizens. The Korean people were able to recover “much-needed national identity” and pride in their nation. Gwang also mentions in his book how modern day sports has been influenced by Christian missionary schools, YMCA, foreign language schools, and the “opening up of Japan in the 19^th century”. This part was also interesting since it was related to what we watched in the YMCA Baseball movie where Europeans came into Korea to teach the people the game of baseball. I have become increasingly aware of the power of

Gwang further writes that sports were a means for Western cultural imperialism to counterbalance Eastern political imperialism. Sports were not always popular, however, especially when it was first introduced in Korea. As time slowly progressed, sports became more widely acceptable and popular to young men, and then to girls and women. It is interesting to see how the power of sports to unify a nation and how it has evolved into such an integral part of Korean society as we see it today. It was also intriguing to see how sports were used to give purpose and identity to the Korean nation during the turbulent times of Japanese colonization.

Pat King Deputy Editor

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2882843

November 17, 2007