Changwon readies to host 2018 ISSF World Shooting Championships

CHANGWON, South Korea, April 23 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean organizers for the upcoming world shooting championships said Monday they are gearing up preparations to host the top event of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) The 52nd ISSF World Championship in all shooting events will take place in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, from Aug. 31 to Sept. 15. The organizers expect some 4,500 shooters and coaches from 120 countries to participate in the international competition. Changwon, some 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, was named the host city for the 2018 worlds at the ISSF General Assembly in London in 2012. South Korea is the only Asian country to host the ISSF worlds twice as it previously staged the event in Seoul in 1978. Changwon's municipal government established the organizing committee for the 2018 ISSF worlds in September 2015 and started renovation of Changwon International Shooting Range, the main venue of the competition, after injecting 35 billion won (US$32.72 million) from March 2016. The refurbished shooting range was completed last month. To test its operation, Changwon has been hosting an ISSF World Cup event since Friday. "The shooting range has become a venue that can host various competitions after we rebuilt most of the facilities," Jung Goo-chang, deputy mayor of Changwon, said. "After we host the worlds, we'll try to have many visitors use the facility." As for the accommodation issue, the organizers said they will not build an athletes' village like the Olympics or other major events. Instead, they secured some 2,110 rooms in 29 hotels in Changwon and other nearby cities. The organizers expect North Korea to participate like the world saw at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games earlier this year. "We've recently sent an invitation letter to North Korea following the procedure of the central government," Lee Byung-gook, the secretary general of the organizing committee, said. "The Seoul government is also interested in North Korean shooters' participation, and Sports Minister Do Jong-hwan recently mentioned it to North Koreans." ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Rana said in a press conference that he has yet to receive an answer from North Korea but vowed that his organization will use every possible channel to help North Koreans participate. According to the ISSF, its invitation was sent to Pyongyang last month. The deadline for the worlds registration is Aug. 1. North Korea is a member of the ISSF and competed at the worlds in Munich, Germany, in 2010, and in Granada, Spain, in 2014. ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber said the federation is willing to send its invitation to North Korea again next month if it doesn't get any response from Pyongyang. kdon@yna.co.kr (END)