Government officials from Seoul and Gwangju inspect Universiade readiness

With the Universiade only two months away, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Gwangju City Government and the Gwangju Universiade Organizing Committee (GUOC) came together to discuss specific plans for the 2015 Summer Universiade.

A total of 80 people including the culture ministry's Second Vice Minister Kim Jong, the GUOC's Secretary General Kim Yoon-suk and the GUOC's Vice President Kim Eung-sik met at the International Aquatics Center of Nambu University.

The meeting dealt with the issues that had been reviewed on the first meeting held on April 5th. Topics such as cultural events, new tourism programs, lodging and food safety for the summer games were discussed during both meetings.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism presented a plan to drive tourism programs in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province from July to August in addition to offering special cultural programs for the underprivileged. The ministry also briefed on the plan to relate the opening of the Asian Culture Complex (ACC) to sports and theater events.

Gwangju introduced a plan to hold the 2015 Global Youths Festival and G-pop Festival along with the ACC opening.

The culture ministry said it plans to promote the Universiade through various tourism fairs, develop tourism products with Gwangju Airport, and offer custom-tailored service for visitors from Taiwan, the United States and European countries.

Gwangju government also mentioned to provide special tours for athletes and expand the city tour bus services. The local government also expressed to develop more tourist packages in Gwangju which include on foot and bike riding activities.

Safety issues also took center stage at the meeting. Gwangju pledged to conduct safety inspections around the Universiade venues on a regular basis with qualified professionals and strict guidelines in place.

The task force team paid a visit to major Universiade venues following the meeting. They conducted safety inspection along with professional engineers there.

The task force team is comprised of four divisions of "Culture, Arts and Content," "Tourism," "Promotion" and "Sports game operation" as the summer Universiade aims to decorate the event with culture, arts and tourism, the GUOC officials said.

Vice Minister Kim Jong advised that the GUOC do its best in preparation efforts with the Universiade only 70 days away. He went on to call on Gwangju government to tackle with problems in tourism and lodging. He also promised that the central government would do its best for the Universiade.

The GUOC officials said the next task force meeting would invite government officials in the fields of lodging, transport and safety. They added they would do their utmost to make the Universiade a festival for the whole nation.

Gwangju Universiade takes place from July 3 to 14 in Gwangju, North and South Jeolla Provinces and Chungju, attended by around 20,000 people from 140 countries.

For more information, contact:

Jiyoung Lee, Foreign Press Officer

☏ +82 62 616 3663, e-mail: 2015press@gmail.com

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