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By Kim Jae-heun
Local governments are stepping up efforts to host training camps and basecamps for foreign athletes who will participate in next year's Summer Olympic Games in Japan amid still lingering concerns over radioactive contamination.
Despite the Japanese government's repeated assurances of a radiation-free Olympics, the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear crisis still linger, as evidenced by the recent detection of high-level radiation hot spots at the J Village in Fukushima, where the 2020 Tokyo Olympic torch relay will kick off next year.
As a result, many countries are looking elsewhere for their athletes to prepare for the Olympics, which are scheduled to take place July 24 to Aug. 8, and Korean cities are emerging as the best training venues, given the two countries' shared time zone and geographical proximity.
Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, is leading the field by becoming the training venue for Olympic wrestling qualifiers from 67 countries from July 9 to 24. According to the local government, over 1,000 athletes, coaching staff and representatives will visit there.
National swimming teams from Belarus, Hungary, Ukraine and Kazakhstan have decided to practice next April in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province. In addition, Gimcheon City is also in negotiation with six Vietnamese national teams, including badminton, to host their training camps.
The Polish women's national canoe squad plans to train for two weeks in July in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province.
Jeju Special Self-Governing Province is currently in talks with various foreign national teams to host basecamps, while Swiss triathlon athletes will establish theirs in the island's southern city of Seogwipo ahead of the Olympics.
Another European swimming team is reportedly looking to reserve a hotel in Busan for athletes' accommodation after they train there.
This is not the first time local governments have taken advantage of neighboring countries' unfavorable conditions in hosting training camps and basecamps prior to Olympic events.
In 2008, athletes from 46 countries participating in 27 events trained in Korea a month before the Beijing Summer Olympics. Tibetan unrest in March, the Sichuan earthquake in May and fine dust issues brought them to choose Korea.
An official at a local government body said Japan's radiation problem has played considerable effect on their decisions where to open training camps and basecamps.
Busan, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province have confirmed that they will make the utmost efforts to host international athletes too.
Busan has already contacted sports agencies that have participated in the World Table Tennis Championship in July and the East Asian Cup in December to invite athletes again for training there.
Incheon City Hall is promoting its advantage as an attractive training camp location with 19 sports facilities that were used for the Asian Games in 2014.
Gyeonggi Province will dispatch representatives abroad to actively invite national athletes to prepare for the Olympic Games in the province's cities.
"Hosting training camps for international athletes can be an opportunity to expose local cities to the world, so many local governments are trying their best," a local government official said.
Ahead of the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, many international athletes opted to train in Japan over Korea due to concerns over the division of the Korean Peninsula.
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