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The 14th Prime Minister's Ship World Baduk Championships

The year of 2019 has been a year of good news in general, including the creation of the first Presidential Battle of the National Baduk Competition, the re-entry of Go to the official event at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, and the allocation of the final allotment points for the national sports event. We looked into what happened to the Go community in 2019 and the top 10 baduk news stories of 2019 selected by the Korea Baduk Association

◇First place and First Presidential Ship National Baduk Conference
The historic first National Baduk Competition for President Bae kicked off at Hwaseong Sports Town Gymnasium in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, on Monday. The National Baduk Competition for President Bae was finalized on Aug. 9, when the presidential secretariat finally approved the use of the name of the presidential ship in the Go event in an official letter to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The first Presidential Battle of Baduk, which immediately became the nation's most prestigious event, attracted more than 3,000 people in a total of 56 categories, including the nation's adult, student and children's ministries. During the tournament, there were many other events such as the Korea-China Memorial Championship, which also included Lee Chang-ho and Changhao of China, as well as the signing of the Hwasong Shikoyo Team in KB Baduk League, and the Future & Summit.

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  ◇2nd place and the official event for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games is adopted
Go is back in the official event at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Among 37 Asian Games events, Go, which was included in board game events along with chess and Chinese chess (Shangchi), is the first official event in 12 years following the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. The Hangzhou Asian Games are scheduled for Sept. 10-25, 2022.

◇3rd place and received 3,600 points for the national sports event
Go has been assigned a definite score at the National Sports Festival, the dream stage of sports players. The KOC finalized its decision at the National Sports Festival Committee in January to allocate 3,600 points for the final assignment of national sports to the Go event. The final score is based on the overall score and ranking of each event that will be included in the national sports event. The allocation of the final distribution points is expected to increase interest in Go in the future at the sports associations of 17 local governments across the country as proof that Go has firmly taken root as a sport.

Fourth place, Yoon Soo-ro as chairman of the 6th Korea Baduk Association
Yoon Soo-ro, 55, the candidate for president of the Korea Baduk Association, has taken the sixth chairmanship. Yoon Su-ro was elected the sixth chairman of the Korea Baduk Association on February 17 (Sunday) after winning 69 of 124 valid votes. Yoon Soo-ro has been the sponsor of National Baduk League titles for two consecutive years in 2017 and 2018, and has been at the forefront of Go's sponsorship, running the National Baduk League game team and Gangwon team. "We will listen to the voices of 17 municipal and provincial governments in the future to plan policies that fit the reality," said Yoon Soo-ro. We will work with various Go related organizations, including the Korea Kiwon, to promptly handle urgent issues, such as the Go Promotion Act, it said.

Fifth place, Eastar Jet Korea's First Unemployment Baduk Club
Eastar Jet has established the nation's first unemployed Go team. Eastar Jet held its inaugural ceremony on May 21 and hired Kang Jong-hwa, executive director of the North Jeolla Provincial Baduk Association, as its first coach, and teamed up with four amateur female players -- Ryu Seung-hee, Kim Gyu-ri, Chae Hyun-ji and Jung Ji-woo. Through the Go Unemployment Team, Eastar Jet said it plans to work on developing air services using Go content, marketing activities for customer contacts and spreading brand awareness through Go, including overseas friendlies. With Go strengthening its position as an official sports event, the creation of the nation's first unemployment team is expected to be a new turning point as it is expected to make a big contribution to the development of Korean Go in the future.

Sixth place, 2019 National Baduk League 18 teams successfully finished.
Kimpo Wonbong-Luhenns won the regular league title and won the postseason with all-time wins, making it to the 2019 National Baduk League unified Champions League. In Game 2 of the SG Golf & Homefield 2019 National Baduk League postseason championship series, which was held at K-Baduk Studio in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 22, Kimpo Wonbong-Luhens won 4-1 against Geum-A Construction in Ulsan, making it the 2019 Go Championship with a combined score of 2-0. Founded in 2012, the National Baduk League has established itself as a tournament that boasts the highest authority of amateur Go, with 18 teams participating for four years since 2016.

7th place, 14th Prime Minister's Cup held in Yeongwol
The 14th edition of the Prime Minister's Boat was held successfully from Aug. 31 to Sept. 6 at the indoor gymnasium of a sports park in Yeongwol County, Gangwon Province. This year, marking the 14th anniversary of its foundation, athletes from 61 countries around the world, including 16 Asian countries, 32 European countries, 12 American countries, and Oceania, competed against each other. Founded in 2006 with the full support of the government to strengthen Korea`s position as a top international player in Go, the Prime Minister`s Bae has established itself as a great festival for Go players around the world for 14 years, and has also been the parent of the president`s ship created this year.

8th place, Baduk for Living Sports! the first club to be held in a
It was held for the first time in the 2019 cyber-ooba national life and sports club Go League. The "Go League," the 2019 Cyber-O-Bae National Sports Club aimed at revitalizing pure amateur Go alumni and establishing a friendly competition and a management system for their peers, advocated the promotion system in the domestic Go competition. The competition was conducted in a total of 10 categories, and the promotion system was introduced at the end of each league, with the top four in the group going up to the top league and the bottom four going down to the bottom.

9th place, hosting the Baduk Day award ceremony
The ceremony marking the second anniversary of Baduk Day was held at Olympic Parktel Olympia Hall in Seoul on Nov. 5. In the "Go" merit award, which can be considered a main event during the Go Day event, Ahn Gyu-jeon, Kwon Kyung-eon, and Kim Mal-soon, president of the Women's Baduk Federation, won the award, while Shin Jin-seo, head of the Korea Sports Council, Kwon Ik-hyun, and Hwang Jin-ho, chairman of the Buan County Association. In addition, the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation's citations were given to Yang Sang-guk, a professional engineer, Lee Hong-sik, honorary chairman of Chungam Academy, and Kim Chan-woo, CEO of the six brothers, and K-baduk.

10th place, and the city-wide competition is held successfully.
The nation's amateur Go competition, which has been on the rise every year, was held successfully in many parts of the country in 2019. This year, even the president's stomach, which Go players had been hoping for, reached the peak of the amateur Go competition. The Go community expects more Go competitions to be created in 2020 as there continue to be positive factors such as the entry of official events into the national sports event, the enactment of the Go Promotion Act and the adoption of official events at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.