Under gray skies and light drizzle, Yeouido Hangang Park buzzed with the sound of sneakers and cheers as about 2,000 Seoul residents tested their strength and endurance at the city's "9988 Seoul Fitness Field" event on Sunday.
Organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the event encouraged people to check their fitness levels and build healthier habits. Despite the weather, the park buzzed with energy from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The venue was divided into three areas themed around fitness, food and health. The fitness zone recreated a school-style physical fitness test with six activities, including situps and standing long jumps, to measure strength, endurance and flexibility. Participants received a fitness report card rated on a scale of one to six and earned 1,000 points in the city's health app, Wrist Doctor 9988.
'Three minutes felt like 30'
Kim Hyun-woo, 36, who measured cardiovascular endurance by stepping on and off a box, said the test was more challenging than expected.
"I exercise regularly, but those three minutes felt like 30," Kim said. "My result wasn't as good as I hoped, but it really motivated me to work out more."
Teenager Yoo Seung-hoon, 15, said he joined to see how he compared to his friends. "It was harder than I thought to get a good grade," Yoo said. "I'm going to start training seriously from today."
Before the official tests, group hula-hooping, AI-evaluated posture checks and pullup challenges drew large crowds of spectators and participants.
The food zone attracted families through events such as sampling multigrain rice and making rice balls to promote balanced eating. One of the most popular programs promoting low-sugar eating helped visitors visualize the sugar content in typical snacks using sugar cubes.
Kim Min-jung, 43, who attended with her child, said the experiment made a big impression. "My kid realized how much sugar is in ice cream, so we decided to start cutting back from today," she said with a laugh.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon joined the event in the afternoon, taking part in a fitness test alongside residents. Other participants included actor Jung Jun-ho, an honorary mayor of Seoul; Hwang Kyu-seok, president of the Seoul Medical Association; Chang Dong-seon, head of the Curious Brain Lab; and exercise content creators from Fitvely and Doctor Friends.
Oh said the city's health app Wrist Doctor 9988, launched in 2021, has surpassed 2.5 million users in four years.
"Seoul will act as a family doctor for residents by helping manage exercise, diet and mental health," he said.
Seoul to expand fitness certification centers
The city plans to establish 100 fitness certification centers across Seoul by 2030, where residents can regularly monitor their physical condition, receive professional assessments and receive personalized exercise plans.
Next month, the Wrist Doctor 9988 app will be upgraded to include new services for metabolic syndrome management, dementia care and smoking cessation clinics.
"Health data collected through Wrist Doctor 9988 will go beyond record-keeping to become a true 'doctor in your daily life,'" Oh said. "We'll continue providing systematic support and policies to help people manage their health more effectively."
BY HAN EUN-HWA [[email protected]]