South Korea pledges full support of Pyeongchang's Olympic bid

Dec 10, 2010, 14:10 GMT

Seoul - The South Korean government on Friday reiterated its full backing of Pyeongchang's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics, a week after the nation missed out on the 2022 football World Cup.

The Yonhap news agency reported that Prime Minister Kim Hwang Sik pledged the state support which includes full financial guarantees at a meeting with big committee leaders and sports ministry officials.

'The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang would open up new horizons in winter sports in Asia, and to make it happen, everyone in the government should strongly support the bidding efforts,' Kim was quoted as saying.

Pyeongchang is competing against Munich and Annecy after narrowly missing out against Vancouver for the 2010 edition and Sochi for the 2014 Games.

The International Olympic Committee will elect the 2018 host city on July 6, 2011, in Durban, South Africa.

South Korea was one of five bidders for the 2022 football World Cup, but missed out as the ruling body FIFA last week elected Qatar to stage the event.

Kim said on Friday that the bid committee and South Korean Olympians should work closely together in the final stages of the bid process and that the government will also co-operate in areas where it is needed.

The official bid documents must be filed to the IOC in January and the IOC evaluation committee will visit Pyeongchang February 14-20.

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