The Gwangju Universiade marks the biggest sporting event for college athletes and has drawn the largest number of athletes and officials, said Kim Hwang-sik, co-chairman of the Gwangju Universiade Organizing Committee (GUOC).

“We set a milestone of hosting the biggest-ever Universiade. Some 13,000 athletes and officials have come to Gwangju for the games. The number of delegates has surpassed that of the 2013 Kazan Universiade, which drew 11,759 participants,” Kim said in an interview with the Gwangju Universiade Daily.

“I am confident that visitors will be fascinated by Gwangju’s various cultural and travel programs that represent the region. Not only have we made preparations to give them a city tour, but we are also advancing the opening date of the Asian Culture Complex,” he said.

The complex has been established as a mega cultural facility and aims to make Gwangju the hub of Asian culture. It was originally scheduled to open in September, but has now been advanced to attract more visitors to the city.

Gwangju is the hometown of art, the birthplace of democracy and the champion of justice and human rights in Korea. Many noted artists, singers and writers were born or settled here. It holds high-profile cultural events, including Gwangju Biennale and Gwangju Design Biennale.

In May 1980, Gwangju citizens led a democratic movement to topple the military dictatorship that came to power through a military coup. Being the first to protest against the regime, they demanded democracy and ousting of the dictatorship despite the regime’s deadly crackdown.

Kim said the historic significance of Gwangju enabled the GUOC to join hands with the United Nations to foster peace and prosperity through sports. The GUOC agreed with the United Nations Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) to launch a youth program in 2012.

“It was the first agreement between the Asian sporting event’s organizing committee and the U.N. Through this agreement, the U.N. made a commitment to work for the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. That’s why the agreement is significant.”

“I think the UNOSDP chose Gwangju to launch the program because the U.N. agency gave credit to the city’s historic value. Gwangju is well-known for its commitment to justice and has set an example of democracy, peace and human rights.”

Under the agreement, the GUOC has hosted an annual Youth Leadership Program three times from 2013. In the program, participants from developing countries learned leadership skills needed to promote peace through sport activities. Youngsters from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), which is technically still at war with the Republic of Korea (ROK), attended the program in 2013.

Kim served as prime minister from 2010 to 2013 and was appointed as co-chairman of the GUOC in 2014. He hails from Jangseong, and is the first Korean premier from South Jeolla Province.

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)