President vows support for Gwangju's 2015 Universiade bid

SEOUL, March 25 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak ordered the government Wednesday to provide all necessary support for the city of Gwangju in its bid to host the 2015 Summer Universiade, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.

A team of inspectors from the International University Sports Federation (FISU),
the governing body of the games, will arrive here early next month for a four-day
inspection of the city, about 300 km south of Seoul.
Lee noted that efforts to host the games will help provide an important
opportunity to unite the nation, as it struggles through what he has called an
"unprecedented economic crisis," according to spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye.
The remarks came in a weekly meeting with his senior secretaries.
Gwangju made an unsuccessful bid to host the 2013 summer games late last year. It
is expected to vie for the 2015 games at an upcoming meeting of the FISU to be
held on May 23, according to Kim.
The city of 1.4 million people surrounded by the southwestern province of South
Jeolla is expected to compete against Canada's Edmonton and Taiwan's Taipei, she
said.