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The Ten Most Important Events in 20th Century Baduk
 
6. Founding of Korean Baduk Association
 
  Before the August 15 liberation in 1945, the meeting places of the old masters were the Chosun Baduk Association and the Kyungsung Baduk Association. Chosun closed its doors in the spring of 1945, while Kyungsung remained in existence until June 25, 1950, the date of the North Korean invasion.
But these were actually meeting places only for the old masters, with only 5 or 6 Baduk tables in each. The old masters were for the most part highly educated patriots who opposed participation in the status of Korea as an occupied territory of Japan. It seems that they tried to forget the misfortunes and ruin of their home country by playing Baduk. They played strictly as amateurs, and looked down on the idea of being a professional Baduk specialist.
 
Cho Nam-chul 9-dan who is making announcement in great joy at the ceremony of laying the cornerstone of Korean Baduk house located in Jongro in October 1967. The man who is sitting behind is Seo Jung-kwi, chief director of Korean Baduk house at that time.

Before the liberation, our predecessors usually played Sunjang Baduk [a variant of Baduk in which 16 equally spaced stones are placed on the board before the beginning of play-- editor].
However, Sunjang Baduk lacks the beauty of the posuk [opening; fuseki in Japanese] in modern Baduk, and it is less accurate. For these reasons, it was decided that Sunjang Baduk must be abolished to prepare for participation in the anticipated international Baduk competitions.
On the 15th of August in 1945, Japan conceded defeat in the War and there were crying and cheering in Korea. While giving three cheers, I worried about the safety of my Japanese teacher, Kitani but the liberation of my country was a different issue.
Suddenly, I thought to myself, "why are we poorer than Japan?" I realized that it was because we had no specialists in each of the industries. So I decided to be a Baduk specialist. On the other hand, I wondered if Baduk was really needed in the rebuilding of the mother country.
But I was sure that the existence of Baduk as a leisure pursuit is necessary enough; people cannot just work 24 hours a day.

-- by Cho Nam-chul 9-dan
 
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