The dramatic victory of Seo Bong-soo 9-dan over Otake of Japan in the 2nd Ing competition capped the victory of Cho Hoon-hyun in the 1st competition two years ago. And Baduk genius Lee Changho won 3 games to 0 against Cho Chi-hoon in the Donyang Stock competition.

The 6th Fujitsu competition, which was held in August, applied the finishing touch to Korea's string of victories. This competition had been an unreachable summit for Korea since its inception in 1988, but this time two Koreans, Cho Hoon-hyun 9-dan and Yoo Changhyuk 9-dan, competed against each other in the final round. The final winner was Yoo Changhyuk 9-dan.
On the 9th of August, two days after the end of the Fujitsu competition, there was a meeting of Baduk experts at the Korean Baduk Association in Kwanchul-dong. The main topics of discussion were the meaning of Korea's success in the Baduk world, and planning the future of Korean Baduk. At the meeting, the participants named the great Cho Nam-chul and Cho Hoon-hyun 9-dan as the great motivators who had led Korean Baduk to success.
Cho Hoon-hyun was honored as the player who catapulted Korean Baduk to world leadership, and the appearance of another genius, Lee Changho, was credited with accelerating the fast growth of Korean Baduk.
Also the formation of the legendary 4-member lineup called "Cho-Seo-Yoo-Lee" created a synergy effect between the players which played an important role in Korea's rise to honor as the world's strongest Baduk nation.
The meeting was finalized by the comment that in response to the international recognition of Korean Baduk, we should make more efforts to develop Baduk worldwide.

-- by Yang Hyung-mo, reporter of magazine 'Baduk'