JEOLLABUK-DO < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) South Korea's central town of Muju will host the World Taekwondo Championships in 2017, the sport's world federation said Sunday after an executive committee meeting in Chelyabinsk, Russia.

The decision by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) came after Muju, a tourist district in North Jeolla Province, defeated the runner-up city of Samsun in northern Turkey in a voting session. The count of the votes was not disclosed.

This will make South Korea, the country of origin of the Olympic sport, host of no less than seven World Taekwondo Championships, which is the biggest biennial global taekwondo competition since the first launch in 1973.

South Korea's southern city of Gyeongju also hosted the 2011 event.

The Sunday victory is partly attributable to the opening of a center for taekwondo in Muju last year.

The complex opened on Sept. 4 to mark the Day of Taekwondo, with a taekwondo stadium that can accommodate about 4,500 spectators along with a training center and accommodations.

The province welcomed the hosting, which is expected to bring in an economic value of 20 billion won (US$18.3 million) to the tourist county.

"The hosting of the international competition brings us glory and pride," South Jeolla Governor Song Ha-jin. "South Jeolla will host the event in a way that can help improve the image of the country and the province and to help boost the economy."

pbr@yna.co.kr

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Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (May 10, 2015)