Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, National Physical Fitness Certification Centers: New 22 Locations Solicited "Space Criteria Lowered"... Annual Government Funding of 100 Million Won per Location

*This content was translated by AI.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Choi Hwi-young, hereinafter Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) is revising the "Designation Criteria for Certification Institutions for Sports Activities and Physical Fitness Certification" to enable all citizens to receive scientific physical fitness management services in their vicinity. The ministry will additionally solicit 22 new National Physical Fitness Certification Centers based on the revised criteria by July 17.

Regarding the revision of the current announcement, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated, "This was implemented reflecting on-site opinions that existing space specifications were a burden for local governments to participate newly." The ministry further explained, "The revised announcement relaxes the total area requirement for certification institutions from 160 square meters or more to 120 square meters or more, and improves the criterion that a space of 7m×17m required for physical fitness measurement must be secured within the same space."

The ministry continued, "Accordingly, if securing such a space is difficult, the same-sized space can be utilized from adjacent sports facilities. Additionally, the adult agility measurement item can be replaced with 'reaction time test (a test measuring how quickly the body reacts to external stimuli such as sounds),' so the space criteria have been made realistic to the level required for the substitute item."

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism emphasized, "With this improvement in criteria, the installation of certification institutions utilizing existing public sports facilities and community sports facilities will become easier, and we expect more local governments to consider new participation."

The revised announcement can be viewed on the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism website.

Selected new physical fitness certification centers will receive annual government funding of approximately 100 million won to be used for operating costs, personnel expenses, etc., through the National Sports Promotion Fund.

More detailed solicitation information can be checked on the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation website.

Meanwhile, the 'National Physical Fitness 100' project is a representative national sports welfare service that scientifically measures physical fitness status by life cycle and provides personalized exercise prescriptions and physical fitness improvement classes. National Physical Fitness Certification Centers started with 4 locations nationwide in 2012, the early stage of the project, and have expanded to 96 locations nationwide as of May 2026. The number of participants in physical fitness measurement and physical fitness improvement classes has also increased significantly from approximately 12,000 in 2012 to approximately 2.67 million in 2025.

Recently, as interest in health promotion and personalized exercise has increased, the demand for using National Physical Fitness Certification Centers has been steadily rising. Cases of utilizing physical fitness measurement results in recruitment processes by public institutions and companies are increasing, and demand for physical fitness level diagnosis and personalized exercise services is also expanding.

Kim Dae-hyun, Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "With the improvement of designation criteria, the threshold for local government participation has been lowered, so we expect more National Physical Fitness Certification Centers to be established in more regions." He added, "By 2030, we will expand the centers to 150 locations nationwide and provide unwavering support so that all citizens can experience scientific physical fitness management, health promotion, and medical cost savings near their homes."

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*This content was translated by AI.