Guestbook

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Before the meeting began, KRA Chairman Hyun Myung-kwan said, “Jangheung County is the first local government to sign an MOU with the KRA and hold a meeting to discuss matters related to the development of the horse industry.” He added, “We look forward to hearing valuable suggestions from Jangheung County for fostering the horse industry.”At the meeting, a variety of opinions were discussed regarding the Korea Racing Authority and Jangheung County’s efforts to promote the horse industry.After the meeting, County Governor Kim Seong said, “There are many concerns about the direction of development in the horse industry, which is being promoted as a key project of Jangheung County,” adding, “The Korea Racing Authority’s proposal for the development of Jangheung County’s horse industry was a great help.” He said, “We ask for your continued interest and support for Jangheung County’s horse industry going forward.”

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He was taken down after being accused of defamation by the police, but I was angry that he said that to people like us, whom he had never met before, in a way that was not reasonable.Protecting the living environment and the educational environment is not a matter of ruling or opposition parties, or of progressives and conservatives. There are pastors, priests, and nuns who participate in the exercise with us, as well as the principals and teachers from the Yongsan area, but they are very conservative people.

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To this end, both organizations will actively promote self-regulatory activities centered on ethics committee members to strengthen the ethical awareness of their members and workers.This year, Chairman Kim Ki-cheon, who turned 60, celebrated a double milestone. In May, the eldest son got married, followed by the expansion and relocation of the Holsmate Equestrian Club, the birth of five foals, and Gyeonggi Province being designated as the third special zone. Chairman Kim Ki-chun said, “I can only speak,” but everyone who knows understands how great his hidden efforts and contributions were before Gyeonggi Province was designated a special zone.Chairman Kim Ki-chun, who began as an equestrian, now has his interest extended throughout the horse industry.

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Developing the horseback riding population is the most important part. We will promote grassroots equestrian competitions centered on self-governing clubs and local units to foster positive feedback through a quality evaluation system and to encourage participation by holding many youth equestrian competitions. We also plan to include in the second comprehensive plan the expansion of programs for safe horseback riding, such as the riding ability system.Regarding the horse racing industry, there are also parts concerning the construction

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Regarding image improvement, the horse industry is providing the public with opportunities to experience horses, and the Korea Racing Authority is consulting with and promoting sound measures to shed the gambling image associated with horse racing.Although it is still being improved, I think its main points are enhancing the quality of life for citizens, expanding the public nature of equestrianism, supporting vulnerable groups, and improving urban residents’ access to equestrian activities. On the other hand,

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Going forward, the 2nd Comprehensive Plan will expand public equestrian facilities and experience riding programs that take into consideration low-income groups and socially vulnerable people. A large public equestrian center will be built near the city center so that socially disadvantaged groups who cannot access the horse industry can use it. We are making every effort to transform it into an affordable and easily accessible facility that anyone in the country can enjoy.Improving promotional awareness is a very important part.

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Meanwhile, horse racing officials point out that the concerns raised by People’s Solidarity and others—that the Korea Racing Authority prohibits credit card payments for betting tickets and only accepts cash, raising concerns about income evasion and tax avoidance—are contrary to government policy and appear to be an impure attempt to discredit the Korea Racing Authority.In addition, under the horse racing moderation policy, the government legally prohibits not only small purchases but also the use of credit cards at racecourses or off-track betting outlets, and there is growing criticism that, contrary to government policy, the government is making an unreasonable claim that betting must be paid by credit card.

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Until now, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism handled the horse industry through equestrian sports, but with the enactment of the Horse Industry Promotion Act in 2011, the promotion and support of the horse industry became the responsibility of our Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. A new system and a new paradigm were created to revitalize the rural economy and improve the quality of life for the people. Although there has also been recent state affairs manipulation, even if there is little direct connection on the ground,

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Some civic groups and members of the opposition committee, who have been persistently demanding the withdrawal of the reopening of the Yongsan off-track betting center, are attempting to continuously tarnish the Korea Racing Authority.On the morning of the 29th, civic groups including People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Committee for the Expulsion of the Yongsan Virtual Horse Racing and Gambling Establishment held a press conference at People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy’s Areumdri Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and announced plans to report to the National Tax Service over suspicions that the Korea Racing Authority is engaging in large-scale, organized tax evasion.

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I will actively support the many concerns and opinions shared here today so that they can translate into practical and tangible results,” and urged, “Please do not hesitate to provide the Korea Racing Authority with support for the development of Jangheung County’s horse industry.”Meanwhile, the Korea Racing Authority stated that it plans to implement improvement measures including establishing a cooperative medical care system through a registration system for private veterinarians at each hub, providing clinical training for large animal veterinarians to promote emergency horse medical personnel, and expanding the installation of riding horse breeding support centers for horses, in response to difficulties such as the absence of a specialized horse veterinarian in the area of Jangheung County’s horse producers and the inconvenience of breeding support due to the long distance of Jangsu Ranch.

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Since the part of equestrianism as a sport before that has been transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture,Forestry and Livestock,it must be integrated with the livestock and agriculture sectors,and the horse industry should contribute to the development of agriculture.To achieve that,there must be sufficient coordination not only with the existing Ministry of Agriculture,Food and Rural Affairs but also with other ministries,yet there are some gaps. I think the lack of such coordination causes many problems in implementation and is something that needs to be addressed.

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For now, legal harmony is still needed.Currently, an important aspect of the horse industry is the issue of use and training. There are aspects that can be handled with a riding horse, and the retired racehorses that come out every year—about 1,200 in total—also need to be well trained, but the training system has been lacking until now. In a way, I also think training was difficult, so there were parts where systematic development was not achieved. Retired racehorses that can be trained are actively being trained through the establishment of a systematic training system, and where necessary,

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Although these issues have been sidelined recently due to many pressing matters within the Livestock Bureau, such as drought and avian influenza, I think we should hold another on-site discussion once these problems are resolved.The livestock industry is fundamentally aimed at reliably supplying safe livestock-derived food to the public. In contrast, the horse industry aims to improve the quality of life for the people by properly training and utilizing horses. The laws are different. As a result, this problem itself became a burden.

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Now in his third year in office, he said that although he has so far taken a field-oriented approach, he still feels regret over not being able to resolve many pressing issues, and that he will strive to address them.It has already been three years since I was assigned to the horse industry department. The official name of the department in charge is the "Masa Division," and it handles a wide variety of tasks. First, in addition to establishing and supporting a comprehensive plan for fostering the horse industry,

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They stated, “Since 2013, the Korea Racing Authority changed 30 online horse racing gambling sites nationwide to a designated-seat system and significantly raised admission fees, but there are suspicions that it did not increase the value-added tax accordingly,” adding, “Before and after 2013, the value-added tax displayed on admission tickets was the same at 182 won,” they cited as evidence.They also said, “The Korea Racing Authority has issued an explanation that, in addition to VAT corresponding to the 2,000 won entrance fee, it pays separate VAT on facility usage fees, but there are still suspicions about whether it is actually paying the appropriate VAT,” urging the tax authorities to conduct a thorough investigation.

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If a few more people like Representative Kim Moon-young come forward, I believe our language industry can develop through constructive criticism and advice.I hope readers will also join in doing what they do best so that specialized media in the horse industry can continue to develop. I hope the Korea Racing Authority also appoints experts as members of various committees so that they can hear opinions on the direction of industry development.We started as the only specialized media outlet for the horse industry in our country,

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Some civic groups and members of the opposition committee, who have been persistently demanding the withdrawal of the reopening of the Yongsan off-track betting center, are attempting to continuously tarnish the Korea Racing Authority.On the morning of the 29th, civic groups including People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Committee for the Expulsion of the Yongsan Virtual Horse Racing and Gambling Establishment held a press conference at People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy’s Areumdri Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and announced plans to report to the National Tax Service over suspicions that the Korea Racing Authority is engaging in large-scale, organized tax evasion.

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On the 22nd, the Seoul Racecourse Trainers Association and the Jockey Association held a signing ceremony for a “Compliance Agreement for Fair Horse Racing” at Cheonmajung in LetsRun Park. Through this agreement, the Seoul Racecourse Trainers Association and the Jockey Association declared their commitment to strengthening mutual communication between trainers and jockeys and to practicing fair horse racing through active self-regulation efforts. At the same time, they decided to work toward creating a trustworthy horse racing culture for customers and the public by signing and implementing an ethics agreement between trainers and jockeys.At this Ethics Convention for the Practice of Fair Horse Racing, the Seoul Trainers Association was represented by Chairman Kim Jeom-o, Director Park Jong-gon, Director Kim Dong-gyun, and Secretary-General Ha Jong-su, while the Jockey Association was represented by Chairman Lee Dong-guk, Vice Chairman Lee Geum-ju, Director Moon Se-young, and Secretary-General Kim Ki-seon.

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Otherwise, it could flow into the underground economy and illegal gambling.For the horse industry to develop, the horse racing industry must develop first. Even looking at other countries, the horse racing industry cannot develop through control or regulation. It should be supported through policy, but since it is only controlled and regulated, it has changed very much from the original purpose of its establishment. We need to establish measures such as removing purchase price caps and cracking down on illegal underground betting, and from the profits generated, pay taxes

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Due to insufficient practical support, we faced operational difficulties and underwent restructuring, but the situation is still difficult.Since I took office, we’ve been holding general meetings in the Korea Racing Authority auditorium, eating in the company cafeteria to save costs, and turning it into a culture of getting a glimpse of my former workplace.Other alumni associations usually have a hall. Retirees gather there to eat together and play long-term Go, using it as a place for fellowship, and I hope there will be a space like this in our Masa Alumni Association as well.

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What is especially admirable is that, through foreign materials, studying abroad, and business trips, we learned systems that cannot be found anywhere else in our country, laying the foundation for the development of the horse racing industry.Where foreign horses made up the majority before, we have now institutionalized the system so that domestic horses account for more than 70%, and we have worked to promote Korea’s level of horse racing to the world by holding the

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On the 23rd, a roundtable meeting for discussions on fostering the horse industry in Jangheung County, hosted by the Korea Racing Authority, was held in the Korea Racing Authority’s main conference room.Present at the meeting were Chairman Hyun Myung-kwan of the Korea Racing Authority, Vice Chairman Lee Sang-young of the Korea Racing Authority, Assemblyman Hwang Ju-hong (New Politics Alliance for Democracy, Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Maritime Affairs Committee), Jangheung County Governor Kim Seong, and Chairman of the Jangheung County Council Kwak Tae-soo, among others, who engaged in in-depth discussions on development plans to foster Jangheung’s horse industry.

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In response to allegations raised by groups such as People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the Korea Racing Authority explained through a press release that “the Korea Racing Authority is faithfully paying VAT on entrance and usage fees.”The Korea Racing Authority explained that it has been faithfully paying value-added tax on off-track betting venue entrance fees and on off-track betting venue usage fees charged to horse racing customers, and that the entrance fee for off-track betting venues was established in July 2011 based on Article 5 of the Korea Racing Authority Act, and that before the entrance fee was incurred, a separate usage fee was charged to customers who wished to use the member room (2005) or the designated seating area (2008).

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Even though it wasn’t a part state, I think the juniors worked very hard and feel proud that, after going through Part 3 and becoming a Part 2 state, the status of Korean horse racing was elevated.What’s disappointing is that the horse racing industry itself has no connection to general society and has few related industries, so here I am an expert, but if I quit, there will be nothing left for me to do. I see it as a major problem. I hope the horse industry itself becomes firmly established.

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This year, with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs designating one horse industry special zone each in Gyeongsangbuk-do (Gumi, Yeongcheon, Sangju, Gunwi, Uiseong) and Gyeonggi-do (Yongin, Hwaseong, Icheon) as the second and third horse industry special zones, the development of the horse industry in inland regions has officially begun.Jangheung County’s establishment of a close cooperative relationship with the Korea Racing Authority by signing a memorandum of understanding and holding a meeting to promote the horse industry is seen not only as an effort to foster the horse industry, which is emerging as the local government’s top priority, but also as a move with the designation of the next horse industry special zone in mind.