Gwangju Mayor Park Gwang-tae, right, shakes hands with President Lee Myung-bak in a meeting between the president and heads of municipal governments at Cheong Wa Dae Friday in Seoul. / Yonhap

By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

Gwangju Mayor Park Gwang-tae identified solid government support and financial backing as strengths of the city's bid to host the 2013 Unviersiade.

Park, who was in Seoul participating in a Cheong Wa Dae meeting with President Lee Myung-bak, told reporters that the president promised him ``aggressive support" over his city's bid to bring home the world student games.

``I was convinced on President Lee's commitment of helping Gwangju in many ways to win the rights to host the Universiade," said Park.

In its bid file submitted to the International University Sports Federation (FISU) in February, Gwangju offered a guarantee that the municipal government and the central government will fully cover the costs for building new sports venues and improving infrastructure.

Should Gwangju be announced as the winning bid, the government is also planning to propose a special law that would allow the expansion of the financial support for the games.

The municipal government will work on a budget of 400 billion won ($400 million) through 2013 should it win the FISU vote in May 31, government officials said.

Park also said that Gwangju would be one of three South Korean cities ― along with Seoul and Busan ― to launch an English-language radio station in November. The intensions are to encourage an English-friendly environment that would benefit foreign tourists and expatriates and also students learning the language.

``We have already secured the radio frequency for the station and will start airing pilot programs in August," said Park.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr