2024-03-27 18:02:55
“Go is the only game where you can come back to life after death, so it is very exciting. But I think young people these days are good at driving. “Only old people play baduk.”
At 1:30 pm on the 27th, a source in Yeongdeungpo-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Won-guk Cho (73), who has been playing baduk for 43 years, said. At the origin, 20 elderly people were sitting together in groups of two or three, playing baduk.
As if reflecting this atmosphere, Myongji University’s Baduk Department, the world’s only Baduk department, has decided not to accept new students starting next year. Myongji University announced on the 27th that it held an academic affairs meeting on the 25th and decided to close the Baduk department.
Myongji University’s Baduk Department, established in 1997, has produced 19 professional players, including 9-dan Jong-jin Han, 9-dan Yang Geon, and 8-dan Lee Min-jin. However, the school decided to close the department due to worsening management and a decline in the number of young people playing baduk. When discussions first began in 2022, it was scheduled to be reorganized into the ‘Mind Sports (Management) Department’, but the direction was gradually taken to close the department.
Current students and professors are protesting. Kim Han-gyeol (24), president of the Baduk department student council, said, “Students do not think that the closure of the department has been confirmed,” and “(at the student council level) we are preparing a movement against the closure of the department.” Professors of the Baduk Department also held a related meeting around 1:30 pm on this day. Professor Nam Chi-hyeong of the Department of Baduk said, “It is very regrettable that we decided to close the department at a time when many international students are coming from Japan and China.”
In fact, students from all over the world, including Germany, France, and Brazil, attended Myongji University’s Baduk Department. Master Diana, who was born in Hungary and is a first-time professional at Korea University, studied in Europe and Japan before returning to Myongji University in 2005 and becoming a professional driver in 2008.
There are also concerns that Korea’s competitiveness in baduk may decline. Recently, Shin Jin-seo, 9th dan, wrote a new history in world Baduk with his 6th consecutive win in Shanghai, China, and this trend can be reversed. After the department’s abolition was confirmed, voices opposing the department’s abolition continued in the domestic baduk community.
Some analysts say that the crisis will accelerate as the younger generation, who are accustomed to provocative content such as YouTube’s ‘Shorts’ (short videos of less than one minute), are turning away from baduk. Do-yeon Kim (26), an office worker, said, “We live in an era where we don’t know how much time passes just by watching videos posted on social networking services (SNS). There is a lot of content that can be watched without much thought, so we don’t pay much attention to baduk, which requires mental use.” .
According to the Korea Baduk Association, the estimated percentage of the population who knows how to play baduk fell from 32% in 2000 to 19.4% this year. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance completely cut the support budget for the Korea Baduk Association, which was 2.1 billion won last year, this year.
However, some say that it still has charm because it contains life wisdom such as life and death (how a stone dies and lives). According to the ‘Survey Report on Public Awareness and Use of Baduk’ published by the Korea Baduk Association in January, 62.9% of respondents who do not play Baduk responded that they are ‘willing to learn Baduk.’
The Korea Baduk Association said on the 27th, “We strongly regret the decision to close the school without considering the students,” and added, “We will consult with related organizations to create an alternative to prevent the dreams of students who wanted to enter the Baduk department from being trampled.” The Korea Baduk Association said, “We have conveyed our opinion in various ways to reconsider the abolition of the game, including issuing statements opposing it starting in 2022,” and added, “The decision to abolish the game is unfortunate at a time when the status of baduk has increased due to the recent strong performance of professional players.”
Reporter Lee Soo-yeon lotus@donga.com
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2024-03-27 18:02:55