Muju Picked as a Site for Taekwondo Park

Muju County in North Jeonnam Province has been selected as a site for Taekwondo Park. On December 30, the Taekwondo Park Construction Steering Committee (President Lee Dae-soon) announced at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism office, "As a result of the first and second round of judging process, Muju County, which scored 831.53, beat Gyeongju City in North Kyungsang Province (823.87) and Chunchon City in Gangwon Province (809.0), and it has finally been picked as the site for the park."

In the second round of judging, Muju County topped the list in three out of four areas of assessment standards: suitability for the park, contribution to balanced national development, and the capacity of local government. Gyeongju placed first in regional development potential. In the first round, Gyeongju scored 746 and was ahead of Muju, which scored 744.5.

As a result of this decision, the ministry will construct facilities such as a sports complex, a Taekwondo Hall of Fame, Taekwondo gymnasiums, cultural villages, an accommodation center, and Oriental medicine sanitariums on 660,000 square meters (total site: 2.3 million square meters) around Sochon-ri, Seolchon-myun in Muju County, with a total budget of 164.4 billion won.

The total population of Taekwondo active people around the world amounts to 50~60 million, and 2.5 million people are expected to visit the park annually. The park will produce economic benefits of up to three trillion won.

Also, sites for the Football Centers has been confirmed: Chonan (Middle area), Changwon (Yongnam area), and Mokpo (Honam area). Seoul Olympic Sports Promotion Foundation will conclude agreements with the municipal offices of these cities by March 2005, and will complete construction by the end of August 2006.

In the general meeting held in Taerung Training Center, the Korea Olympic Committee settled the South Korean bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics as Pyongchang in Gangwon Province.

Hwa-Sung Kim mars@donga.com