Guestbook

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Even amid the darkness and chaos beyond our grasp, all of us in the racing community over the past year did not give in to despair or crisis, and we never stopped on our great journey of challenge after challenge.Entering Part II, Korean horse racing, as a new member of the global racing community, experienced a period of growth marked by small on-site changes aimed at strengthening competitiveness, such as last year’s expedition to the Dubai World Cup, the introduction of advanced overseas personnel, changes in racehorse training patterns,

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Over the past year, as we struggled for the development of horse racing amid a desperate crisis, our horse racing industry had to endure great wounds and suffering, while being socially condemned for distorted perceptions and prejudice toward horse racing amid the national turmoil caused by the state affairs scandal. It was even a painful year in which horse racing was branded as a target for eradicating deep-rooted social evils, and it was also a year stained by a series of suicides among horse racing officials

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Pohang earthquake last year, it is clear that Korea’s horse industry also lacks a solid production base and could collapse in an instant. Just as we design earthquake-resistant structures, we should once again review Korea’s horse industry policies and, supported by policies and investments that enable mutual growth and development, hope to see the completion of Part II and the dawn of a natural era of Part I through the production of domestic horses that surpass foreign ones.

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Although the goals of moving toward an integrated Korean horse racing system and entering Part II have been achieved, there remains insufficient support for the improvement of racehorses and the stable establishment of the production infrastructure that would have been derived in the process of achieving those goals, raising concerns that the racehorse production industry, which forms the foundation of horse racing, may become a precarious structure built on shaky foundations.

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As the year-end approached and with the closure of Seoul Racecourse Park approaching, the number of horse racing fans who visited the racecourse and off-track betting locations actually increased slightly compared to the previous week, yet the ticketing operations were carried out normally without major disturbances.The Korea Racing Authority and the Betting Ticket Sales Union held a total of 15 main and working-level negotiations starting August 16, during which they negotiated 110 union demands and 78 KRA demands, but failed to narrow their differences. Then, after negotiations continued through mediation by the Central Labor Relations Commission on December 15, the talks ultimately broke down without reaching an agreement, and the Betting Ticket Sales Union eventually filed a strike notification on the 20th.

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Embracing the vigorous spirit of the rising sun,I wish all of you success and abundant happiness.Last year, on top of the nationwide unrest caused by the national turmoil of state corruption and the president’s impeachment, as well as the country’s anxiety over North Korea’s nuclear provocations,there were also earthquakes and even a fire disaster at the end of the year—truly a great tragedyI am remembered as a difficult and hard year.In the horse racing industry as well,after experiencing the successive deaths of those involved,

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The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs expects that if Jeju Special Self-Governing Province faithfully implements the detailed action plans under the Horse Industry Promotion and Development Plan, it will play a leading role in fostering Korea’s horse industry and will also make a significant contribution to stabilizing horse supply and demand.Minister Lee Dong-pil said, “At a time when FTAs are expanding, the horse industry can create new sources of income for agriculture and rural areas, promote exchanges between urban and rural communities, and develop into advanced-country-style industries such as tourism, leisure (equestrian) industry, and healing industry.” He added, “The designation of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Horse Industry Special Zone carries great significance in that it will establish the foundational infrastructure for the future development of the horse industry.”

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With about 3 billion won in incentives from the Korea Racing Authority for replacing stallions with germ-free horses, racehorse producers spent 7.5 billion won in total to introduce a total of 179 excellent germ-free stallions from overseas in 2016 and 2017. Even to prevent the outflow of dollars required for breeding-purpose imported stallions, institutional measures are needed to encourage a natural turnover from racehorses to stallions,

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Shin Geon-jung, secretary general, Lee Seon-young, secretary general of the Chungbuk Participation Solidarity, and Lee Jun-young, editor-in-chief of Horse Industry Journal, who all spoke and engaged in a discussion.In a discussion session chaired by Lee Eon-gu, head of the Chungju Garden Forum, which lasted about two and a half hours, Chungju City Council member Kim Heon-sik spoke about the recent reality of the Suanbo Tourism Special Zone, which has been in a state of severe stagnation. He emphasized the necessity of hosting the center, saying, “The development and establishment of the Chungju Mal Culture Complex Leisure Center is expected to greatly contribute to revitalizing the Suanbo Tourism Special Zone, which is currently in a desperate state, and the residents of the Suanbo area are earnestly hoping for it.”

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Our members of the Seoul Owners’ Association, who have led the true change and innovation in Korean horse racing, have devoted themselves to discovering better racehorses and upholding the owners’ responsibilities, roles, and core values, even as horse racing revenue and prize money stagnated.In addition, in September he took the lead in practicing noblesse oblige as a devoted owner by opening Seoul Hyojeong School, Korea’s first school for visually impaired young children,

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Since the implementation of the 2015 Racing Innovation Plan, most farms have been experiencing a sales cliff due to the liberalization of imports of foreign horses and the concentration of prize money in first-place finishes, which has led to the purchase of outstanding horses by owners. In this situation, it is urgently necessary to introduce a closure subsidy support system so that if racehorse-producing farms, which are already in a critical situation, go out of business,

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Meanwhile, Seorabeol University is actively carrying out volunteer activities related to therapeutic horseback riding to enhance and promote the image of the domestic horse industry. Every year, the Department of Massage at Seorabeol University participates in nearby rehabilitation centers for people with disabilities and disability-related events, showcasing therapeutic horseback riding activities aimed at social participation.

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In addition, as an executive of the Korean Society of Therapeutic Equestrianism, he attended the 2015 Therapeutic Equestrianism World Congress as Korea’s representative to promote the bid to host the 2021 Therapeutic Equestrianism World Congress, and as a director of the Gyeongju Regional Development Council, he has contributed to the reflection of policies for the development of Gyeongju’s horse industry.When asked about her acceptance speech,

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Despite many difficulties over the past year, Korean horse racing has made relentless efforts to find a breakthrough to overcome the crisis. Reflecting on the self-portrait of Korean horse racing, which at times lost sight of the core values of “coexistence and competition” by being forced into distorted competition, we now promise to create a new Year of the Dog with fresh hope and leap forward from a new starting line, and we ask for your continued interest and support for Korean horse racing.

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On the 29th, Professor Park received the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Commendation in the livestock sector at the 2017 Gyeongju City Year-End Ceremony and Award Ceremony held at the Arts Center in Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk.Appointed in 2011, Professor Park made significant contributions in 2014 to securing Seorabeol College as a specialized institution for training experts in the equine industry from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs,

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Specifically, the focus should be on expanding demand in the horse industry and establishing a foundation for it, while also paying attention to creating a complex horse industry complex and revitalizing a special horse industry zone to strengthen the competitiveness of the horse industry. In addition, we must strengthen our capacity not only to establish a foundation for the production and distribution of horse meat, but also to cultivate specialized personnel for the horse industry and to popularize horseback riding

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As part-time horse racing workers, betting ticket sellers only need to come to work on the days races are held to handle ticketing and guidance, and because they currently work two days a week, they fall under the category of ultra-short-hour workers with less than 15 working hours per week. If the weekly working hours are 15 hours or more, under the Labor Standards Act and the Act on the Standards of Working Conditions, the employee may receive paid holidays and annual paid leave, and be eligible for severance pay.The ticket-selling union said, “The Korea Racing Authority only forcibly adjusted meal and break times, reducing working hours to less than 15 hours, while the actual working hours are more than 15 hours.” They added, “Because management cuts the meal and break times by 10 minutes each, we can’t even have a leisurely meal.” It was argued that all actual working hours should be recognized.

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Even this alone shows that our country was a horse power not only in Central Asia but also throughout the world. Horse experts also assess that Korea’s Guahama, that is, the Jeju horse, a native Korean breed, is far more resilient than the Mongolian horse.Considering that the Eurasian Altai Cultural Exchange Exhibition, held in 2017 at Gwanghwamun Square alongside the Korea Language Industry Association’s Seoul Language Culture Festival,attracted not only citizens but also many foreigners,

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Since the enactment of the Horse Industry Promotion Act, other local governments that only belatedly entered the race to develop the horse industry were unable to meet the basic requirements, so they began demanding the designation of a special zone combining two or three basic local governments, or a regional special zone at the provincial level. At the suggestion of these local governments, the Regulatory Reform Committee of the Prime Minister’s Office recommended the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to ease the related requirements, but the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that it would prepare a plan to relax the designation requirements for the horse industry special zone starting in 2014, following its designation as the first horse industry special zone in 2013.The designation requirements for a special horse industry zone at the end of 2013 demand a substantially large-scale basic horse industry foundation within a limited scope.

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With Gyeryong Construction relocating to a new headquarters in February, the Korea Racing Authority plans to purchase the shared Gyeryong Construction building and improve customer service by remodeling it into an optimized facility. When residents began opposing the expansion of the Daejeon branch, the Korea Racing Authority stated that it would maintain the current policy of one person, one seat, assigned seating system and the current number of entrants.The importance of off-track betting facilities in the horse racing industry is by no means small.To implement horse racing, enormous financial resources are required to equip basic facilities such as racecourses, stands, and auxiliary facilities, and due to difficulties in securing land to build racetracks, it is a reality in countries that have implemented horse racing that they operate off-track betting facilities far outnumbering the number of racetracks.

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Korea is the world’s first nation to achieve both an economic miracle and a political miracle in the world for the first time in 70 years. Do you know that Genghis Khan was originally a descendant of the Korean people. A recent discovery has recorded that Genghis Khan was the 19th-generation descendant of Daeyabal, the younger brother of Balhae’s Dae Jo-yeong. The Korean people are a nation that, while arrogantly ruling the Manchurian plains, conquered the entire world beyond East Asia—China,

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With Gyeryong Construction relocating to a new headquarters in February, the Korea Racing Authority plans to purchase the shared Gyeryong Construction building and improve customer service by remodeling it into an optimized facility. When residents began opposing the expansion of the Daejeon branch, the Korea Racing Authority stated that it would maintain the current policy of one person, one seat, assigned seating system and the current number of entrants.The importance of off-track betting facilities in the horse racing industry is by no means small.To implement horse racing, enormous financial resources are required to equip basic facilities such as racecourses, stands, and auxiliary facilities, and due to difficulties in securing land to build racetracks, it is a reality in countries that have implemented horse racing that they operate off-track betting facilities far outnumbering the number of racetracks.

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A new beginning is always filled with the energy of hope. The newly launched Korea National Equestrian Operators Association plans to work together with the government to make every effort to resolve, as soon as possible, the many pressing issues in the horse industry, including the industrialization of livestock utilization, the application of agricultural electricity to equestrian riding facilities, and problems related to equestrian insurance. I believe that when we put it into practice with earnest hearts,

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However, despite this reality, civic groups that have ridden on social prejudice against off-track betting facilities and regional selfishness are absorbed in opposition for the sake of opposition, and it is regrettable that the reality of labeling the horse racing industry—which contributes a significant portion to the national budget by paying tax revenue amounting to 1.4 trillion won annually—as gambling is nothing short of unfortunate.The horse industry and horse racing industry say that instead of opposing only for the sake of opposition, they should seek development into a healthy leisure activity and openly discuss with each other to set the best course for one another.

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May all your wishes come true, and especially may the sound of horses’ hooves, shaking the earth and shaking the heavens, once again resonate through the world, making this a busy and exciting year for everyone working in the horse industry.Looking back, the past year was a very hard and difficult one. We endured the pain of our hard-earned achievements collapsing overnight, and in particular, the image of the horse industry, including equestrianism, was severely tarnished,