리 국민의 여가시간은 주40시간 근무제의 도입에 따라 획기적으로 증가 하였고 레저 수요의 증가를 가져오게 된 가장 중요한 환경변수로 작용하였다.
경제성장에 따른 국민소득 증대와 고령화 사회가 도래하면서 삶의 질 향상을 위한 여가 활동이 중요시 되고 체육정책 영역에서도 레저 스포츠와 스포츠 산업 영역이 새롭게 부각되고 있다. 1990년대 중반이후의 레저활동은 가족중심, 모험과 체험 활동 참여형, 자연 친화적 레저 활동으로 이루어지고 있으며 2000년대에 이르러 건강지향형, 취미활동형, 인터넷 마케팅의 보편화 추세에 따른 고도의 정보화 환경 편승과 모험레저의 대중화와 자아실현, 자기개발 추구형 창조적 레저활동 양상으로 나타나고 있다. 레저 스포츠 수요가 점차 늘어나고 다양화 됨에 따라 관련 법과 제도의 정비, 시설과 안전성 문제가 시급한 과제로 대두 되고 있다. 레저스포츠진흥법 제정 등을 통한 레저스포츠의 발전기반을 마련하고 레저의 중요성에 관한 인식 제고와 레저 정보 시스템구축, 시설 기반 확충과 프로그램보급 방안이 강구 되어야 할 것이다.
나아가 생활체육과 전문체육의 균형적인 발전 기틀위에 창조적 레저활동 등 건전한 여가 문화 기풍을 조성하며 신성장 산업으로 각광 받고 있는 스포츠 산업의 육성 지원 대책이 효율적으로 추진 될 수 있도록 하여야 할 것이다. 레저스포츠관련 안전기준 및 시설기준 마련과 레저스포츠의 안전성강화를 위해 핵심소재 및 부품의 기술개발을 장려, 지원과 국제협력 강화 및 레저스포츠 전문인력 양성 과 레저정보 시스템구축, 기반시설 확충과 프로그램 보급은 물론, 레저스포츠산업 기반 확대를 위한 지원방안 강구 등을 통해 생산성향상과 국가 경쟁력 제고에 기여 할 수 있도록 모두가 지혜를 모아야 할 것이다.
Our society is changing from labor-centered society to leisure-centered society with the spread of 40-hours work a week system. How to utilize leisure time will play a great role both in increasing the individual's creativity, family fraternity and company's production capability and in contributing to the social integration, which lead to the enhancement of the nation's compatibility.
Economical, social and cultural environment changes such as an enhanced way of life with economic development, change of social value from work to life quality, and moral shift from one way system to diversity and individualization, makes leisure not an unnecessary consumption act but a necessarily needy part of life.
In our modern times, leisure takes on not the negative meaning of enjoying the free time extricated from labor and duties but the positive meaning of making individual's life bountiful and contributing to the nation's compatibility.
Korean government sport policy emphasizes the expansion of people's sport participation, increased self governance and responsibility of both individual and private sport organization, imposing the authority and responsibility to the local government, and national government's enlarged function of support, evaluation and feedback.
Also government puts a great emphasis both on the sharing of visions and goals between national, local government and private sport organizations and on utilizing personnel and material resources in each area, which lead to the utmost of the policy synergy effect.
Government's sport policy goal lies in the enhancement of people's health and life quality by lifting sport participation rate from 39.8% in 2003 to 50% in 2010, improving the image of nation with world top 10 status in international sport competition, equal development of both nation and local areas through sport industry, lifting national image by way of international sport exchange and sustaining peaceful atmosphere between south and north Korea through sport exchanges.
Experiencing some organization shifts from Ministry of Sports established in 1982 to the one sports bureau of MOCT, Korean government strived to level up in areas of expansion of sport facility, development and dispersion of sport-for-all programs, education of coaches, enhancement of athletic skills, fostering of elite sport, and development of sport diplomacy. National sport policy is planned and implemented in every 5 years, but both survey on the people's sport-for-all participation and survey on the people's physical fitness in every 3 years. 2010 vision of sport-for-all was made in 2003.
Along with the increased leisure time resulting from 40 hours work a week, increased disposable income with economic growth and increased life expectancy, the importance of leisure activities emerges. The size of leisure market in 2004 expects to be over 18 trillion Korean won. With the generalization of health-oriented leisure life, both leisure sport and sport industry are regarded as important areas in the field of sport policy.
Despite the diversification of leisure sport demand, there lie some defects such as lack of law and institution, opaque responsibility matters among government ministries, unsecured safety regulation of facilities and equipment, and lack of systematic support system.
In order to develop leisure sport, government will enact "leisure sport promotion act" which warrants the legal basis to the national and local government's leisure facility establishment and related policy planning, establishment of "leisure sport promotion committee" which will plan and coordinate both the basic leisure sport plan and safety regulations, establishment of safety guidelines for leisure sport facility and equipment, and the assistance of government budget, sport promotion fund and local government's leisure sport promotion fund for the support and sound fostering of leisure sport.
According to this act, people who wants to apply for a leisure sport business should both secure facilities and equipment relevant to the safety and facility guidelines and report to the local government empowered to check the safety matters and supervise. Government will encourage and support the technology development of leisure sport equipment for the safety enhancement of leisure sport, strengthen international cooperation, foster specialized personnel if necessary, and establish the leisure sport organization for the sound development of leisure sport.
Also government will secure the stronghold of leisure sport, promote the importance of leisure, establish leisure information system, support enlarging the basis of the sport industry as well as expansion of basic facilities and dispersion of programs, and implement the all-governmental plans including culture and tourism.
Starting from 2006, government will survey and evaluate the status of people's leisure activities periodically and carry out the system of 40 hours work a week successfully. In the survey, every aspects of leisure activities including status of leisure industry, leisure facilities, and administrational organizations will be analyzed and utilized for government's policy making. In 2006, a new research about both OECD major country's leisure support policy for the low income brackets and leisure vitalizing policy in the public and private sector will be done.
For the efficient execution of both the development of the sound leisure atmosphere based on the balance of sport-for-all and elite sport which is an ideal of Korean government and supporting policy of sport industry emerging as a growth industry, all energy and wisdom should be mobilized.