Cheongju City aims to become a sports city by hosting national sports competitions

Cheongju City is seeking to become a sports city by hosting national sports competitions.

The plan is to attract competition participants and visitors, including athletes and executives, to revitalize the local economy and raise awareness of the city.

According to the city on the 27th, 14 provincial-level sports competitions were held in Cheongju this year, and 9 are scheduled to be held between October and December.

There are three international competitions and 20 national and provincial competitions.

International competitions include the Cheongju Jikji International Dance Sports Championships held last July, the Park Shin-ja Cup International Basketball Tournament held next month, and the World Squash Championships held from December 14 to 18.

The city plans to host additional national competitions in new sports next year while maintaining a similar level of competition size as this year.

We plan to host national gymnastics and table tennis competitions next year, handball and taekwondo in 2028, and fencing and volleyball in 2029.

It also has a foundation for hosting competitions for each sport.

National competitions can be held at the Multipurpose Indoor Gymnasium (Seokso-dong, Heungdeok-gu) for gymnastics, Sports Center for the Disabled (Jujung-dong, Cheongwon-gu) for table tennis, Olympic National Dormitory (Sajik-dong, Seowon-gu) for handball and fencing, and Cheongju Indoor Gymnasium (Sajik-dong, Seowon-gu) for taekwondo and volleyball.

However, the battle to host the competition is not easy.

Competition among local governments is fierce, and the city estimates that an average of 200 to 300 million won will be needed to host a new national competition.

The city decided to allocate a separate 'pool project cost' in the budget so that it can respond immediately to competitions that have a high possibility of being hosted.

We also plan to expand participation in government-funded public offering projects.

A city official said, "Hosting sports competitions helps the local economy by leading to increased consumption of accommodation, food, transportation, and tourism by athletes and executives," and added, "The hosting of the competition will increase citizens' interest in sports."