‘Monster Kim Min-jae’ also appeared on the wrestling board. ‘Super Rookie’ Kim Min-jae (21, Yeongam-gun Folk Ssireum Team), who conquered the university stage and made his debut in folk wrestling this year, announced a generational change by winning the Baekdu class (under 140kg) in the first tournament of the year.
Kim Min-jae defeated Oh Jeong-min (Mungyeong Sae-jae Ssireum Team) 3-0 in the 2023 Lunar New Year Ssireum Competition Baekdu Jangsa Final (3 wins in 5 matches) held at Yeongam Indoor Gymnasium in Yeongam-gun, Jeollanam-do on the 24th and climbed the flower palanquin. Kim Min-jae is called a “monster” because of his overwhelming skills, like soccer player Kim Min-jae (Napoli), who is active in European soccer this season. Last year, as a university student (University of Ulsan), he left a strong impression by winning consecutively by beating prominent seniors in the Dano and Cheonha competitions. The birth of Cheonhajangsa, a college student in a wrestling field, is an ‘incident’ that appeared 37 years after Lee Man-gi, who was attending Kyungnam University at the time, in 1985.
Kim Min-jae joined the Yeongam-gun Folk Ssireum Troupe, and as soon as he debuted on the adult stage, he won the New Year’s Day business title and announced the appearance of a monster. After beating senior Kim Jin (Jeungpyeong-gun Office) and Jang Seong-bok (Mungyeong Sae-jae Ssireum Team) in the quarterfinals and semifinals, he roared by defeating even Oh Jung-min in the final. After winning the first and second rounds with snatching and pushing, in the third round, he intelligently shook off the opponent who was trying to push him down.
Kim Min-jae said, “I often hear that my match style is similar to that of senior Kang Ho-dong, but the person I admire the most is senior Lee Man-gi.” Following last year, this year’s goal is to win.”
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently announced the ‘K-Ssireum Promotion Plan’ on the 10th in accordance with the plan to develop Ssireum as Korea’s unique sports brand and original cultural product. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism set forth three major tasks: ▶ Excavation of tradition and modern reproduction ▶ Creation of attractiveness through competition innovation ▶ Ssireum enjoyed by all citizens. The idea is to add dignity to tradition and reorganize it into open content that old and new generations can enjoy together, ultimately developing it into a self-sustaining sport. Specific tasks include ▶ Fostering 4 major tournaments such as New Year’s Day, Chuseok, Dano, and Cheonhajangsa ▶ Establishing the lightest class 온라인카지노 to promote skill wrestling ▶ Supporting the production of wrestling entertainment TV programs ▶ Launching a semi-professional league in 2023 ▶ 2025 He presented detailed plans such as seeking professionalization, including the establishment of five professional teams.
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo-gyun said, “We will make 2023 the first year of the revival of K-ssireum and revive the cheers, applause, and memories of the prime days.” I will grow it,” he said.
In the ssireum world, it is expected that the government’s support will lead to a craze for team creation and contribute to the expansion of the ssireum base. On the same day that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the plan to promote wrestling, the 19th team, MG Saemaul Geumgo Ssireum Team, based in Chungnam, announced the launch through a founding ceremony. It is a corporate wrestling team that reappeared seven years after the Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries wrestling team disbanded in the summer of 2016.
Lee Man-gi, a professor at Inje University who participated in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s wrestling promotion project, said, “Ssireum enjoyed the greatest popularity in the 1980s, but suffered a slump because it could not properly cope with the changing environment.” I got a good chance. I hope that wrestling will take this opportunity to make another leap forward as a national sport.”