Gwangju City Officially Launches Bid to Host 2025 World Archery Championships

On the afternoon of the 19th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, attended the launch ceremony of the 2025 World Archery Championships Hosting Committee and performed a success promotion with the guests. Photo by Gwangju City.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 19th that it held the ‘2025 World Archery Championships Hosting Committee Launch Ceremony’ and has begun efforts to host the event.

The launch ceremony was attended by Mayor Lee Yong-seop, Vice President Jang Young-sul of the Korea Archery Association, Secretary General Jo Yong-man of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, Olympic archery medalists Ki Bo-bae, An San, Joo Hyun-jung, and 49 others.

The hosting committee is composed of 97 members from various sectors including politics, economy, education, and sports, with Mayor Lee Yong-seop and Chung Eui-sun, President of the Korea Archery Association, serving as co-chairs.

The committee members will work to build social consensus and engage in active external cooperation to secure the hosting rights for the 2025 World Archery Championships.

Based on Gwangju’s successful experience hosting large-scale international events such as the 2015 Summer Universiade and the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, the hosting committee expressed strong determination to secure the 2025 World Archery Championships.

On the same day, Gwangju City signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korea Archery Association to cooperate on hosting the 2025 World Archery Championships, enhancing South Korea’s national prestige, promoting archery sports, and fostering regional balanced development.

Additionally, Ki Bo-bae, the most decorated South Korean Olympic archer with two gold medals from the 2012 London Olympics and a gold medal from the 2016 Rio Olympics, was appointed as the promotional ambassador for the 2025 World Archery Championships.

Ki Bo-bae will work alongside An San, who was previously appointed as a promotional ambassador for Gwangju City, to promote the 2025 World Archery Championships domestically and internationally until the event concludes, aiming to raise awareness and generate excitement for the tournament.

If Gwangju successfully hosts the 2025 World Archery Championships, the event will be held over eight days between July and September 2025 at the Gwangju International Archery Field, with over 1,100 athletes and officials from approximately 90 countries participating.

Gwangju City plans to submit the hosting application for the 2025 World Archery Championships to the World Archery Federation through the Korea Archery Association by the end of September. The host city will be decided in December following evaluations by the World Archery Federation Executive Board in November.

Ki Bo-bae, appointed as the promotional ambassador on the day, said, “I will do my best to fulfill my role as promotional ambassador to ensure that the 2025 World Archery Championships are successfully hosted in Gwangju.”

Jang Young-sul, Vice President of the Korea Archery Association, said, “Gwangju’s bid to host the 2025 World Archery Championships is expected to be a great opportunity for South Korea and Gwangju to once again widely promote their names worldwide through the sport of archery and to leap forward as a sports advanced country and city. The Korea Archery Association will spare no effort to ensure the success of the hosting bid.”

Mayor Lee Yong-seop stated, “Hosting the World Archery Championships is a great opportunity to enhance South Korea’s national prestige and city brand value, promote regional balanced development, revitalize the economy, and advance archery sports. We will concentrate all our capabilities and do our best to secure the hosting rights.”

Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin yjm3070@asiae.co.kr

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.