Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Seoul to host IOC's 1st sports medical conference in Asia
By Nam Hyun-woo
An International Olympic Committee (IOC) conference on sports medicine will be held in Korea in 2017 for the first time in Asia, a medical society said Monday.
The Korean Society of Sports Medicine said it has won the right to host the 5th IOC World Conference on Prevention of Illness and Injury in Sports.
The triennial conference, dubbed “Sports Medicine Olympics,” is a gathering of experts in the clinical aspects of sports and exercise medicine as they explore effective prevention strategies for athletes to stay fit and healthy in and out of competition.
The three-day conference is scheduled to kick off on June 1, 2017 and is expected to be attended by some 1,500 physicians, 120 speakers and 40 IOC members and domestic officials.
The society said that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism contributed to hosting the conference by pledging a partial subsidy in covering the cost.
Along with the conference, an IOC Advanced Team Physician Course will be held in the county of PyeongChang, which is the host city of the 2018 Winter Olympics, from June 5 to 7. Some 300 physicians are expected to attend the course and the IOC will accredit them “Team Physicians.”
The ministry expects that the events will contribute to nurturing more domestic IOC Team Physicians, as well as promoting the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games.
“The events will be a launch pad for Korean medical practitioners to make their way in the international sports community,” said an official at the Korean Society of Sports Medicine.