The new president of the Korean Women’s Basketball League (WKBL), Shin Sang-hoon, has vowed to develop women’s basketball.

Shin was officially inaugurated as the 10th president of the WKBL on Wednesday at a ceremony held at the Rivera Hotel Cheongdam in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. He began his official duties after being elected as the new WKBL president for a three-year term at the WKBL Extraordinary General Assembly held last month.

Shin, a graduate of Gunsan Sangho High School and Sungkyunkwan University, joined Shinhan Bank in 1982 and has served as executive vice president of Shinhan Financial Holding Company, president of Shinhan Bank, and CEO of Shinhan Financial Holding Company. In 2021, 파워볼실시간 he became president of the Financial Industry Public Benefit Foundation.

He is also known for his involvement in basketball, as he took over the Hyundai Women’s Basketball Team in 2004 while he was president of Shinhan Bank and led the creation of the Shinhan Bank Women’s Basketball Team.

The team won six consecutive league titles from the 2007 Summer League, when it called Ansan its home, to the 2011-2012 season, becoming known as “Real Shinhan” and establishing itself as one of the top names in women’s professional basketball.

Shin said, “This is an undeserved honor for me. I am grateful for the opportunity to fulfill my unfulfilled dreams as a club owner, but I also feel a heavy responsibility,” said Shin.

Diagnosing that Korean women’s basketball has “lost its international competitiveness as well as its position in domestic professional sports,” Shin emphasized that “we are at a point where we need to change to keep pace with the rapidly changing world basketball.”

“We are at a point in time where we need to change to keep up with the changing trends in world basketball,” he said.

The 2024-2025 season will see the implementation of an Asian quota system for Japanese nationals, including players from the Nippon Women’s Professional Basketball W-League. It’s starting with a Japanese quota, but the league is paving the way to gradually expand the number of eligible countries.

“It has become a situation where foreign players and domestic players are competing for starting positions. The competition between clubs that have reinforced their strength and the competition between players will heat up the league,” he said, adding, “We will expand the Asian quarter in the future and turn it into a challenging league with an international flavor.”

In response to a question from the press afterward, Shin said, “The quality of the players will increase when foreign players enter the league,” adding, “It is said that Son Heung-min practiced 1,000 shots a day with his father, and our players need to make constant efforts to improve their skills. We will order each club to increase the amount of training.”

Shin also expressed his intention to increase attendance through differentiated events and marketing activities, explaining, “Within my term, I will increase attendance by more than 50% compared to now.”

“With the six teams, we will focus on expanding the base, increase the social value of women’s basketball, and promote the importance of women’s sports,” Shin added.

Regarding the creation of a seventh team, he said, “In reality, it’s a difficult issue and it’s hard to say specifically, but I have an idea,” adding, “We will work to create a seventh team.”

Six players representing each club were present at the event. Kim Dan-bi (Woori Bank), Park Hye-jin (BNK), Bae Hye-yoon (Samsung Life Insurance), Lee Kyung-eun (Shinhan Bank), Kim Jong-un (Hana One Q), and Yeom Yoon-ah (KB), who are the main players in the league, presented Shin with a congratulatory bouquet.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo In-chon congratulated Shin on his appointment in a video message.

With the official start of Shin’s term, the question is what solutions the league will come up with to increase attendance.