Hwaseong City Joins KB Kookmin Bank Baduk League

Hwaseong City has become the first local government in the Seoul metropolitan area to participate in the '2014 KB Kookmin Bank Baduk League' and held a signing ceremony on the 11th.

On that day, at the Korea Baduk Association conference hall located in Hongik-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, Mayor Chae In-seok of Hwaseong City, Lee Sung-hak, executive director of CJ E&M;, Cho Hunhyun, standing director of the Korea Baduk Association, and Yang Jae-ho, secretary general, attended and held a signing ceremony pledging Hwaseong City team's participation in the 'KB Kookmin Bank Baduk League.'

Prior to the signing ceremony, Mayor Chae In-seok said, "I hope that the 540,000 residents of Hwaseong City will enjoy wholesome sports culture through baduk and contribute to the development of domestic baduk through the activation of the KB Kookmin Bank Baduk League."

After the signing ceremony, Cho Hunhyun, standing director of the Korea Baduk Association, presented a commemorative baduk board to Mayor Chae In-seok and wished for the success of the Hwaseong City team.

Crown Prince Sado, buried in Yungneung of Hwaseong, is the only crown prince on record to have had a baduk board placed in the Eastern Palace, and his son, King Jeongjo, also left poems about baduk, making Hwaseong a city with strong connections to baduk.

Since 2008, the city has held the 'Hwaseong Mayor's Cup King Jeongjo Filial Piety Baduk Festival' for six consecutive years, and it is expected that Hwaseong City team's participation in the KB Kookmin Bank Baduk League will heighten residents' interest in baduk.

Lee Jeong-woo, an 8-dan professional from Hwaseong, was appointed as the new head coach for the Hwaseong City team, and following player recruitment at the end of March, the team will compete for seven months from April 10 through November.

Last year, a total of eight teams participated, and the KB Kookmin Bank Baduk League is broadcast live on Baduk TV every Thursday through Sunday at 7 p.m.