A Sports Festival for Citizen-Athletes

The 2006 Festival of Korean Sport for All will be held in six cities of Jeonnam Province for three days starting April 14. The participating cities are Yeosu, Suncheon, Gwangyang, Mokpo, Naju, and Boseong (County).

Approximately 60,000 citizen athletes will compete in 41 sports in the festival. It will feature exuberant opening and closing ceremonies, sports performances, a publicity pavilion for Yeosu’s 2012 Expo bid, and a food court featuring local delicacies.

The festival will also feature unofficial competitions such as Korean archery, triathlon, open-water fishing, and golf. The categories for disabled include badminton, table tennis, wheelchair marathon, and lawnballs. The event has invited a Japanese delegation of 175 athletes.

Comedian Kim Jong-guk will host the opening ceremony, which will take place in Yeosu’s Jinnam Stadium at 7:00 p.m., April 14. The list of the popular musical talents and celebrities the show will feature includes Super Junior, Buzz, Paran, NRG, Jang Yoon-jeong, Tae Jin-ah, Jo Hang-jo, and Seo Ji-yeong.

Jae-Yun Jung jaeyuna@donga.com