Park Ji-sung, who belongs to Manchester United, is the first Korean player in the EPL(English Premier League), and he is doing a very good job. Park Ji-sung is not taller than other players, and he also does not have extreme speed. However, like his nickname “Oxygen Tank,” he is acknowledged in the EPL for his endurance and powerful play. Cheering him to play among star players, we feel pride as Koreans. In contrast with the good play of Korean players, financial support for physical education is inadequate.
Korean sports basis is weak
The women’s handball team made an impressive drama in the 2002 Athens Olympics. Although Korea lost to Denmark and won a silver medal, their play touched us. Because of people’s indifference and the poor facilities, their medal is valuable. The budget for physical education is emphasized for popular events. The budget for the football association is 17,900,000,000 won, which is in contrast to the budget for the handball association of 70,000,000 won. Because the budget about sports puts value on popular events, it is hard to expect a good result next in the Olympics. Also, sixty percent of the Korea Sports Council budget is appropriated for the Korea National Training Center. The other budget is used for labor costs and operating expenses. Therefore, planning to find young players and to rear them are difficult in this situation. Also, the budget associated with physical education in developed countries is 0.5% of total budget, but Korea is not even 0.05%. That Park Tea-hwan and Jang Mi-ran won gold medals is clearly an excellent result. However, it should be kept in mind that the result is not accomplished through an expanding sports base.
Physical education should be developed to build the basis.
Dreaming about “Post Park Ji-sung,” many students practice soccer on the playground. However, the facilities are not good enough for them to hope to become like Park Ji-sung. They endeavor by running on the sandy playground. To enhance international prestige through sports, our government should invest in the basis. In other words, our government needs to develop our school’s physical education. The physical education budget should not give too much importance to typical parts. Also, our nation’s physical education is based on our schools physical education. When physical education is revitalized in school, the culture of enjoying sports will be developed. The reason that men are more interested in sports than women is that men have more experience in sports than women. In other words, by generalizing sports throughout schools,  the expansion of our sports base will be achieved. Naturally, Korean sports will develop.