Here is a excerpt from a Korea JoongAng interview with Lee Sedol, dated 2013-03-09.


Go here for the rest of the article. http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/new ... id=2968766

Do you believe that, at least in Korea, the current state of pro baduk is leading to its decline in popularity among Koreans? Much obliged in advance for your kind opinions

I think it's the other way around: the decline in popularity among koreans (japanese or chinese for that matter) will ultimately transform the world of pro go playing.

Would this mean East Asian pros going to Western countries to teach their craft? It has been happening for some time now, but I have yet to see an increase in this trend. One problem with the Go community in Western countries is that the level of play varies considerably from region to region. As well, the overall level of play in Western countries is below that of CJK.

Baduk seems to be increasing in popularity in China... if the frequent scarcity of certain baduk books on JD.com serves as any indication.

Sometimes things get more popularity than they really deserve. There was a point where Lee Changho was the most recognizable person in Korea, so measuring from that level of obsession, almost any change is a decrease. Lee Sedol is a big believer in the role of creativity in the game, so maybe that view influences his comments. Not everyone has to be a fanatic to have better schools. I don't know how fair his comment is about the trick move teaching, but maybe it is the equivalent of McDojos in martial arts...

Go will decline in Korea because its current popularity is abnormally high.

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Simplify!

Define "abnormally high".

What is the *proper* popularity Go should have? (and why is that so)

the general feeling i've seen among professional go players is that China will be at the top. No real ETA, but i would guess 10+ years.

Guess all those government subsidies from Beijing paid off after all

I'm sure that if there exists a similar government-funded program to promote weiqi in the US and other Western countries, in 50 years North America and Europe can challenge China for supremacy in the world of weiqi.

i suppose that could be a reason
there is a huge push in china to make way for the younger generation (not sure about other asian cultures)
basically if you're not a big name by a certain point, you should hold back and start teaching, i'm not sure if many of the other cultures do so.

Just me firing from the hip here, but I'd say that China has already proven itself to be at the top of the professional world. If you look at which countries are winning which tournaments, China has been steadily overtaking Korea in the number of tournaments they've been winning recently. The only two international tournaments Korea has managed to win lately the Samsung Cup and the Bingshen Cup, with all the others being held by China.