South Korea struggles to finish World Cup venues<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): South Korea, which will jointly host the 2002
\nsoccer World Cup with neighboring Japan, is struggling to finish
\nthe construction of local stadia this year.<\/p>\n
Yonhap news agency reported that the average progress of
\nstadium construction has reached 78 percent, an impressive figure
\ncompared to last year when the public had doubts on the readiness
\nof those venues to welcome the world's best soccer players and
\ntheir supporters.<\/p>\n
Ulsan, a coastal city to the southeast of the capital Seoul,
\nand Suwon and Taegu will all finish construction before May and
\nwill put their new stadia into use afterwards.<\/p>\n
Pusan, which will also host next year's Asian Games after the
\nWorld Cup, is scheduled to finish stadium construction in July
\nfollowed by Kwangju, Taejon and Chonju in September while Inchon
\nand Sogwipo on Cheju island will finish construction in December.<\/p>\n
Munsan Stadium in Ulsan will have a roof over the seats and
\nthe pitch will be planted with grass as soon as the lighting and
\nsound system have been installed.<\/p>\n
A friendly match between joint hosts South Korea and Japan
\nwill mark the inauguration of the stadium in April 2001.<\/p>\n
Roof construction and grass planting will soon be finished at
\nTaegu and by the end of May the entire work will have been
\ncompleted.<\/p>\n
The stadium in Taegu will be the biggest venue in Korea with a
\ntotal seated capacity of 68,000.<\/p>\n
In the near future, the stadium will host the Intercontinental
\nCup before the 2002 World Cup begins and it will also host the
\n2003 Universiade.<\/p>\n
Antara reports that cities in Korea are considering staging
\nmany other events if the country successfully hosts the World Cup
\nround-robin matches.<\/p>\n
Workers are still constructing the Sangam Stadium roof to the
\nnorthwest of Seoul. This stadium will host soccer fans from all
\nover the world at the opening of the quadrennial World Cup. (yan)<\/p>",
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