Korea's gold medal-winning shooters at the Paris Olympics hold the national flag at Chateauroux Shooting Centre in France, Saturday (local time). From left are Oh Ye-jin, the winner of the women's 10-meter air pistol event, Yang Ji-in, the winner of the women's 25-meter pistol event, and Ban Hyo-jin, the winner of the women's air rifle event. Joint Press Corps
Korea's strong performance in shooting events at the Paris Olympics has sparked mixed reactions toward Hanwha, a prominent sponsor of Korean shooters. Hanwha ended its two-decade sponsorship of the sport just before the Summer Games.
The Korean national shooting team has won three gold medals and three silver medals, breaking its previous best record set at the 2012 London Olympics.
Korea Shooting Federation (KSF) President Shin Myoung-ju told Korean media outlets in Paris, Thursday (local time), that Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn's support was behind the splendid achievements.
“He had paved the way for more than 20 years,” Shin said.
However, some fans pointed out that Hanwha's decision to relinquish the KSF chairmanship last November made it difficult for the federation to secure a new sponsor just before the Olympics.
Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn, left, shakes hands with shooter Jin Jong-oh during the Hanwha Chairman's Cup shooting competition in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, in this May 2010 photo. Korea Times file
Hanwha gained the federation's chairmanship in June 2002 after founding Hanwha Galleria Shooting Team in 2001.
Before relinquishing the chairmanship, Hanwha invested over 20 billion won ($15 million) in the growth of Korean shooting sports, helping shooters train and compete in more comfortable environments. Since 2008, the Hanwha Chairman's Cup has been held annually as one of Korea's five major shooting competitions.
Thanks to Hanwha's wholehearted support for shooting sports, Jin Jong-oh clinched four gold medals and two silver medals in four Olympic Games between 2008 and 2016. Kim Jang-mi also won a gold medal in the women's 25-meter pistol event at the 2012 London Olympics.
In 2017, however, Hanwha abruptly disbanded its shooting team, citing the need to focus more on leading the KSF.
Following Hanwha's decision, which was seen as an indication of the conglomerate's intention to stop supporting shooting sports, Korea managed to grab only one silver medal in shooting events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two years later, former Hanwha Galleria CEO Kim Eun-soo offered to resign as the KSF chairman, ending the conglomerate's two decades of sponsorship of shooting sports.
“We achieved our goal of supporting the growth of Korean shooting sports through a long-term sponsorship,” Hanwha Group said at that time.
Although Hanwha Group added that it wanted to give a chance to other companies and individuals to contribute to the growth of Korean shooting sports, it took nearly half a year for the KSF to find a new sponsor that can afford to pay at least 700 million won a year.
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In June, the federation managed to appoint the head of Myoungju Hospital in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, as the new president. He previously served as the vice chairman of the Korea Hockey Association.
"I feel a great responsibility in leading the federation with 70 years of history," the new KSF president said at the inaugural ceremony.
“I believe that my role is to upgrade Korean shooting sports.”
However, employees and subcontractors of the hospital claimed that they had not been paid for their work over the past few months.