Chungcheong Megacity 2027 World University Games Bid Committee, a joint organization launched by local governments in the Chungcheong region for the bid to host the 2027 FISU Summer World University Games, said earlier this month that the region has been officially selected as one of the candidates for the international multisport event.

The committee, which includes officials from four local governments in the central region of South Korea -- Daejeon, Sejong and the North and South Chungcheong provinces - said it will ramp up preparations to host the event.

A letter from Eric Saintrond, secretary-general of the International University Sports Federation, confirmed the Chungcheong region as one of the contenders to host the event.

According to the committee, the final host of the 2027 FISU Summer World University Games will be revealed on Oct. 9 at the International University Sports Federation’s general meeting in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Members of the committee will travel to Yekaterinburg to give its final presentation at the general meeting, which will be followed by a vote.

Previously, the FISU was going to announce the final host of the games on Jan. 10, 2023, but it was moved up by three months.

Before the final vote, working groups from both the CMBC and the FISU will go through a set of processes.

Between February and August, the CMBC and the FISU will hold meetings to check technical matters. The CMBC will work on additional documents, and the FISU will conduct on-site evaluations between September and October this year as well.

For the hosting rights, South Korea’s Chungcheong will battle with North Carolina of the US.

If the Chungcheong bid committee wins, it would be the third time that South Korea has hosted the Summer World University Games. The summer multisport event was previously staged in Daegu in 2003 and Gwangju in 2015.

If the US wins the hosting rights, it will be the first time the US hosts the event since the 1993 Summer Universiade. The US could also utilize the 2027 FISU World University Games as a warm-up for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

The CMBC expects the multisport event to invite some 10,000 student athletes and staff, as well as 5,000 media personnel. The event is also expected to generate an economic impact worth 2.7 trillion won ($2.25 billion) and create around 10,000 new jobs, according to the CMBC.

To bring the biennial multisport event to South Korea, local governments, civic groups, universities and sport organizations have been ramping up their efforts, officials from the bid committee said.

In December, South Chungcheong Province launched its own committee to increase the level of interest and awareness for the CMBC’s bid to host the 2027 World University Games. This committee, which includes 200 representatives from government bodies and civic groups, has pledged to carry out promotional activities to help the CMBC to host the global event that will invite 15,000 people from some 150 countries.

“The Chungcheong region’s hosting of the international sport event could provide a growth momentum to the region,” South Chungcheong Province Gov. Yang Seung-jo said during an inaugural ceremony held by South Chungcheong Province’s committee.

Earlier in December, Sejong established its own committee too, which includes 100 officials from state institutions, the sport sector, universities and civic groups, to promote the Chungcheong region’s bid.

As part of the promotional activities, Daejeon City Sports Council and some 40 student athletes in January also visited the Daejeon National Cemetery where five national sport heroes are buried, including Sohn Kee-chung, an Olympic athlete and long-distance runner who became the first Korean to win a medal at the Olympic Games.

To date, four volunteer service centers and 66 universities in the Chungcheong area have promised to cooperate, and have signed agreements with the CMBC.

The CMBC has been also running a campaign to gain more than 1 million endorsements on its official website.