Anchor: The southwestern city of Gwangju is playing host to the 2015 Summer Universiade which got under way on Friday. About 13-thousand competitors from around the world will take part in the 12-day event that showcases the best in university student athletes.
Our Park Jong-Hong has more.
 
Report: The 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade has kicked off for a 12-day run with an opening ceremony that begun around 7:20 p.m. on Friday.
 
Under the slogan “Light Up Tomorrow,” some 13-thousand athletes from 149 countries will compete for 272 gold medals in the largest Universiade games ever.
 
South Korea, which will field 382 athletes along with some 130 officials and coaches in 21 events, aims to reach third place overall with more than 25 gold medals. The host nation hopes to earn gold in shooting and badminton, on top of taekwondo and judo which are traditional South Korean strongholds.
 
Defending champion Russia is again widely expected to top the medal ranking with its 927-member team. Japan sent a team of 679 and China sent 611 athletes and coaches.
 
Star athletes from around the world have traveled to Gwangju including Belgian decathlete Thomas van der Plaetsen who took gold at the 2013 Summer Universiade before being diagnosed and undergoing treatment for testicular cancer in 2014.
 
Representing the United States in basketball will be players from the University of Kansas Jayhawks, one of the oldest and most successful university basketball programs in history. The team has won the U.S.’ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship three times.
 
Popular South Korean sports stars such as rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae, gymnast Yang Hak-seon and badminton player Lee Yong-dae are expected to draw audiences to the sports festival, which is considered by some to be a tune-up before the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
 
This is the third time the Universiade has come to South Korea after the Muju-Jeonju Winter Universiade in 1997 and Daegu Summer games in 2003. 
 
The biennial Universiade is aimed at promoting college students’ education and sportsmanship while helping them to build friendships. The event is only open to athletes aged between 17 and 28 representing colleges and graduate schools.
Park Jong-Hong, KBS World Radio News.