2027 Summer U Games Organizing Committee Establishment Pain…Local Governments, Sports Federations, and Ministry of Culture Conflict

The establishment of the organizing committee for the 2027 Summer World University Games (Summer U Games), which was jointly hosted by the four provinces of the Chungcheong region in November last year, has been plagued by conflicts between the four provinces, the Korean Sports Federation and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Although it was agreed with the International University Sports Federation (FISU) to complete the establishment of the organizing committee by the 31st of this month, the conflict over the appointment of the organizing committee has not been resolved, raising concerns about whether it will be possible to establish it on time.

According to the Chungcheong Province Summer U Games Bid Committee on March 23, the four provinces held a founding meeting on March 24 and decided to appoint a permanent vice chairman (Lee Chang-seop, former chairman of the National Sports Authority) and a permanent secretary general (Yoon Kang-ro, president of the International Sports Diplomacy Institute) to the organizing committee.

However, the KFA objected to the four attempts, saying that the appointment of a secretary-general without separate consultation was unacceptable.

After several rounds of negotiations with the Korean Sports Federation, the four cities agreed to have the full-time vice chairman take on the duties of secretary general and informed Secretary General Yoon Kang-ro.

The idea was to change from a two-person system of a full-time vice president and a full-time secretary general to a single full-time vice president.

However, the Ministry of Culture, 토토사이트 Sports, and Tourism said that it was problematic to change the decision without a specific reason since it had already awarded the commission, and requested the four Chungcheong provinces to maintain the two-person system of full-time vice chairperson and full-time secretary general as originally proposed.

Secretary General Yoon Kang-ro has also reacted to the dismissal and threatened legal action, escalating the conflict.

The four Chungcheong provinces have accepted the Ministry of Culture’s request and are trying to persuade the KOC to stick to the original plan, namely a two-person organizing committee with a full-time vice president and a full-time secretary general.

The problem is that the deadline for the official launch of the organizing committee for the Summer U Games is March 31.

The four Chungcheong provinces are actively working to resolve the conflict, but time is running out to reach an agreement.

An official from the Summer U Games bid committee said, “We are currently in close consultation with the Korea Sports Federation, so we expect a good outcome.” “We will do our best to establish the organizing committee by the 31st of this month,” he said.

However, the Korean Sports Council has taken a hardline stance that it cannot accept the fact that the four cities have appointed a general secretary without consulting with the KSC, saying that they signed an agreement with the KSC in June 2021 to “form an organizing committee in consultation with the KSC after being confirmed as the host city.”

The 2027 Chungcheongnam-do Summer World University Games will be held over 12 days in August 2027 at 30 venues, including four in Daejeon, 12 in Chungnam, 11 in Chungcheongbuk-do, and three in Sejong.