GWANGJU < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) The southern metropolitan city of Gwangju on Wednesday began its 100-day countdown to the Summer Universiade, an international multisport competition for university athletes.

The event will run from July 3 to 14 in Gwangju, some 330 kilometers south of Seoul, and its satellite towns. The organizing committee said the host city and the nation's capital will both mark the start of the D-100 countdown with a series of promotional events.

At Seoul Plaza in front of the city hall here, the organizers are scheduled to unveil a 10-meter-high tower promoting the Universiade on Wednesday. They said it will remain in the heart of the capital until the closure of the competition.

Separately, the organizing committee will stage a fashion show at Hotel Shilla in Seoul, introducing uniforms for the volunteers, officials and torch bearers, among others involved in the operations of the event.

The committee added that venues in and outside Gwangju will host prep events between April and June as the competition nears. It said 13 such events in 16 sports, including swimming, athletics, tennis, archery, basketball and fencing, will take place.

Also in the lead-up to the Universiade, the draws for team sports will take place during the April 11-15 Heads of Delegation (HoD) meeting, according to the organizing committee.

It said draws for basketball, volleyball, water polo, football, baseball and handball will take place April 13. The HoD meeting, hosted by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), will be attended by representatives from the participating nations, along with their counterparts from FISU and the organizing committee.

Gwangju is the third South Korean host of the Universiade. Muju and Jeonju, in North Jeolla Province, co-hosted the winter edition in 1997, and Daegu held the summer event in 2003.

North Korea also plans to take part in this year's event with a 108-member delegation.

jeeho@yna.co.kr

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