GWANGJU – The Gwangju Universiade Organizing Committee (GUOC) held an official event at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul on 3 June, introducing the overall plans for the Universiade’s opening and closing ceremonies.
The event was attended by the GUOC President Kim Hwang-sik, the ceremonies’ director Park Myung-sung, the Universiade’s ambassadors and others.
The GUOC President Kim Hwang-sik said that the committee would try its best to make the Universiade an event where Jeolla Provinces’ unique features and global culture would be perfectly mixed together.
The opening and closing ceremonies will have Korean celebrities representing Korea’s tradition and pop culture, including actor Joo Won, singer U-know Yunho of the duo TVXQ, popera singer Lim Hyung-joo and many more.
The two ceremonies will proceed under the Universiade’s slogan of “Light Up Tomorrow,” and the sub-themes of the opening and closing ceremonies are “U are Shining” and “Sharing the Light,” respectively.
The opening ceremony, taking place on 3 July at the Universiade’s Main Stadium, will introduce Korean contemporary culture to young athletes from around the world. The Korean alphabet of Hangul will be briefly introduced and the Universiade’s key messages of “Life” and “Love” will be delivered to the participating athletes and officials with Korean traditional music.
The closing ceremony on 14 July will embrace the student-athletes’ passion, challenge and hope and illustrate them into a story. The athletes, officials and volunteers will all come together to enjoy the last moment of the Universiade.
The GUOC started the preparations for the opening and closing ceremonies as early as May, and it now plans to hold a series of mock ceremonies up until the Universiade.
The ceremony director Park Myung-sung said the opening and closing ceremonies will embody Korea’s beautiful tradition along with its modern popular culture.
Tickets for the ceremonies are available at http://ticket.gwangju2015.com or at the call center by dialing 1644-9446 or 1544-1555 (in Korea).
(Source: GUOC 2015)