SHIN Dong-pa (all-time Asian basketball great from the 1960s out of Seoul’s Yonsei University), Gangnam Style, Gentleman, Psy (Park Jae-sang from Gangnam, Seoul), 2NE1, Sandara (Dara, Krung Krung) Park (from Busan), ABS-CBN’s Boys Over Flowers, Lee Min-ho (from Seoul). Ahn-nyong-ha-se-yo, Hello!
I recently took an 11-day trip to Gwangju, the sixth largest city in the Republic of Korea, not only to attend the Gwangju Universiade but also take a glimpse at the exquisite scenic spots in the “Land of the Morning Calm” that is Korea (Bitgoeul Traditional Culture Center, Korea Bamboo Museum, etc).
Dubbed the “City of Lights,” Gwangju is four hours away from the Korean capital Seoul and nearby Incheon by bus, and around three hours by bullet train.
It is home to a pair of high-profile commercial sports clubs. These are the KIA Tigers of the Korea Professional Baseball League and Gwangju FC of the Korea Professional Soccer League.
Moreover, the state-of-the-art Gwangju World Cup Stadium was one of the venues utilized during the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
South Korea and Japan had jointly hosted the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, marking the first time that the prestigious quadrennial sports event was held in Asia (the first to be staged in a continent other than Europe or the Americas). It would also be the first and last WC to be jointly hosted by more than one country as the FIFA amended its statutes in 2004 to officially ban co-hosting rights.
The Gwangju World Cup Stadium was the site of the greatest accomplishment of the South Korean national football team as it reached the FIFA WC semifinals for the first time ever with a 5-3 (0-0) penalty shootout victory over Spain.
Through the 2014 renewal hosted by Brazil, South Korea remains the only country from outside Europe and the Americas to advance to the WC Final Four.
For history purposes, Germany beat Korea, 1-0, in their semifinal match at the Seoul World Cup Stadium (Brazil downed Turkey, 1-0, in the other semifinal duel at the Saitama Stadium in Japan).
In the battle for the bronze medal, Turkey scored a 3-2 decision over the Koreans at the Daegu World Cup Stadium, a contest that included the fastest ever WC goal turned in by Turkish veteran Hakan Sukur after just 11 seconds.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup finals saw Brazil blank Germany, 2-0, in the International Stadium Yokohama in Japan as the Brazilians captured a record-setting fifth title overall.
Thirteen years later, the same venue where the South Korean national football squad made history – Gwangju World Cup Stadium – was the site of the opening ceremonies of the 2015 Summer Universiade, a biennial, multi-sport competition that features prominent university athletes (including current Olympians) from around the globe, last July 3.
“Light Up Tomorrow” was the official slogan of the recently-concluded Gwangju Universiade – “Light of the Creation, Light of the Future.”
“Nuribi” was the mascot, the name being a combination of the Korean words “nuri” for world and “bi” for fly. Nuribi is a messenger of light and a bridge of communication among the world’s youth.
The Philippines, which grabbed a silver medal in the 2011 Universiade in Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China through Samuel Thomas Harper Morrison in men’s taekwondo and punched in a first-ever gold in the Games in Kazan, Russian Republic two years later via Grandmaster Wesley So’s sudden-death victory in men’s chess, failed to place in the medal standings of the Gwangju Universiade.
The Philippines, through the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (FESSAP), saw action in athletics, badminton, golf, judo, lawn tennis, table tennis, swimming and taekwondo.
The closest Filipino to come to within a medal was Cebu-born but United States-based Lloyd Jefferson Go, a Seton Hall University stude who finished tied for seventh place (among 60 participants) in men’s golf with a four-day aggregate of 285. Go was 12 shots off gold medalist Kazumi Higa (273) of Japan, 11 off both silver medalist Nicolas Platret (274) of France and bronze medalist (and a three-day leader) Natipong Srithong (274) of Thailand.