Kim Min-jae Ties Lee Man-gi with 18th Baekdu Jangsa Title

Baekdu-class powerhouse Kim Min-jae (24, Yeongam County Folk Wrestling Team) secured his 18th career Baekdu Jangsa title, tying with "Wrestling Emperor" Lee Man-gi.

Today (August 4), Kim comprehensively defeated Kim Jin (Jeungpyung County Office) 3-0 in the best-of-five Baekdu-class (under 140kg) final at the Withus Pharma 2026 Folk Wrestling Mungyeong Omija Jangsa Tournament held at Mungyeong Gymnasium in North Gyeongsang Province.

With this victory, Kim Min-jae captured his 18th Baekdu Jangsa title, standing shoulder to shoulder with "Wrestling Emperor" Lee Man-gi.

Lee Man-gi, who dominated the sand ring in the 1980s, claimed various Jangsa titles including 18 Baekdu Jangsa titles, 10 Cheonha Jangsa titles, and 7 Halla Jangsa titles.

Considering that Lee Man-gi reached his 18th Baekdu Jangsa title at the age of 26, Kim Min-jae, who is still 24, is well-positioned to break the record for the most Baekdu Jangsa titles in history this year.

The current record holder in this category is Lee Tae-hyun, currently serving as a professor at Yongin University.

Lee Tae-hyun, who competed from the 1990s to the early 2010s, secured 20 Baekdu Jangsa titles and 3 Cheonha Jangsa titles.

If Kim Min-jae wins two more Baekdu Jangsa titles, he will tie with Lee Tae-hyun for first place, and winning three more will set an outright record.

Having reached the summit today, Kim increased his total career Jangsa titles to 21, including his 3 Cheonha Jangsa titles.

As the top powerhouse in the Baekdu division, Kim displayed dominant performance on this day.

After defeating Lim Jin-won (Jeongeup City Office) 2-0 in the round of 16, he advanced to the semifinals following the withdrawal of Yoon Sung-hee (Dongjak District Office) in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals as well, he defeated Ma Kwon-su (Mungyeong City Office) 2-0 with consecutive push-outs.

Taking the initiative in the first round of the final with a twist-subjugation technique (jabchagi), Kim brought down Kim Jin in the second round with a rolling belt-hold throw (dollim baejigi).

In the third round, he succeeded once again in a twist-subjugation technique and rode the victorious flower palanquin.

In the men's team event held on the same day, Jeongeup City Office, led by manager Park Hee-yeon, defeated the MG Saemaul Geumgo Wrestling Team 4-1 to claim the top spot.

[Withus Pharma 2026 Folk Wrestling Mungyeong Omija Jangsa Tournament Men's Division Results] ▲ Baekdu-class Baekdu Jangsa: Kim Min-jae (Yeongam County Folk Wrestling Team), 2nd place: Kim Jin (Jeungpyung County Office), Tied for 3rd place: Cha Seung-min (Gwangju City Office), Ma Kwon-su (Mungyeong City Office) ▲ Team Event Winner: Jeongeup City Office (North Jeolla Province), Runner-up: MG Saemaul Geumgo Wrestling Team (South Chungcheong Province), Tied for 3rd place: Yangpyeong County Office (Gyeonggi Province), Yongin Special City Office (Gyeonggi Province)

(Photo courtesy of Korea Wrestling Association, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.