Moch. N. Kurniawan

Moch. N. Kurniawan
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Indonesia's sporting world has a generous partner in South Korea,
with the recent completion of the Cibubur sports center in East
Jakarta, a testament to the good relations between the two
countries.

Last month, the Korean International Cooperation Agency
(KOICA) officially handed over the 2,100-seat center, officially
named the Sports Center for Korea Indonesia Friendship, to the
Indonesian government.

The center was opened on March 13; one day before the start of
the Fifth LG National Taekwondo championship.

The fully air-conditioned building, built on a 2.5-hectare
plot of land owned by the government, can host four events --
taekwondo, badminton, basketball and volleyball.

Oh Il Nam, a South Korean who has been living here since 1989
coaching the Indonesia national team, said the center would focus
on developing taekwondo athletes in the country.

Indonesia, which had competed in the martial art for more than
two decades, previously had never had such a facility, Oh said.

"In 2000, I had an idea to build a taekwondo center, so I went
to KOICA and the sport directorate in the Minister of Education
at that time for support," Oh said.

The institutions first approved the proposal in 2003 and the
project started in April last year with funding from KOICA. After
completion, the center was handed over to the government through
the Office of the State Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs.

Oh said government was likely to hand over the management of
the center to the Indonesian Taekwondo Association, which would
cooperate with business to manage the center, he said.

Sports directorate head Thoho Cholik Motohir said it was a
good idea that professionals be brought in to manage the center.

"The government does not really have money to maintain the
sports center," he said.

Thoho said the government was still studying options about how
the center would be managed.

Meanwhile, Indonesian taekwando head Ade Lukman said the
association planned to establish an academy for the sport in the
center.

The academy would train all ages and all levels so that
taekwondo would grow as a sport in the country, he said.

Oh said one idea for the new academy was to go on a nationwide
talent search for new athletes.

"We are planning to look for 50 boys and 50 girls across the
country to be trained at the new sports center," he said.