CHUNGCHEONGBUK-DO < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(CHEONGJU=Yonhap News) Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will be a co-chief of an international martial arts competition here, the event's organizing committee said Tuesday.

The organizers of the 2016 Cheongju World Martial Arts Masterships said Han will become its co-chairperson along with North Chungcheong Governor Lee Si-jong. Han will officially begin his job on Wednesday.

Han is a long-time bureaucrat who has more than 45 years of public service experience. He was the country's finance minister and prime minister before being named South Korean Ambassador to the United States in 2009. The 66-year-old also worked as the chief of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) from 2012 to 2015.

He is currently the head of the Climate Change Center, a non-governmental organization based in Seoul.

The organizers said the appointment of Han will raise people's interest in the martial arts competition. He is first scheduled to attend the competition's D-100 countdown event on June 7.

The Cheongju World Martial Arts Masterships will take place from Sept. 3 to 8 in Cheongju, some 130 kilometers south of Seoul. The organizers expect some 2,100 people from 60 countries to compete in 13 martial arts programs, including taekwondo, judo and kickboxing.

kdon@yna.co.kr

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